SYRIA: Former US President Carter met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus

Record ID: 278796

  • Title: SYRIA: Former US President Carter met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus
  • Date: 18th April 2008
  • Summary: (W3) DAMASCUS, SYRIA (APRIL 18, 2008) (REUTERS) SYRIAN PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASSAD AND FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER DURING MEETING CARTER SPEAKING AL-ASSAD SPEAKING AL-ASSAD/CARTER MEETING IN SESSION
  • Embargoed: 3rd May 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA1S7E7AJXNOSE7GQY53MH11ULX
  • Story Text: Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter arrived in Damascus on Friday (April 18) for talks with exiled leaders of Hamas. Carter met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad immediately after his arrival, and is due to hold talks with the Islamist group which he argues should be included in international efforts for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
    Carter, who is on a Middle East tour to hear views on solving the historic conflict, will meet Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and senior Hamas members in one of the highest profile encounters between the group and a Western figure.
    The former statesman, who brokered the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt when he was president, met two senior Hamas officials in Cairo on Thursday after Israel refused him permission to enter the Gaza Strip, where they live.
    In a proposal passed to Carter this week, an Israeli cabinet minister offered to meet the leadership of Hamas to ask for the release of a soldier held in Gaza -- a move which would contravene official Israeli government policy.
    Israel shunned Carter during his visit to Israel this week and Washington criticised him for his contacts with Hamas, which they regard as a terrorist group. They say Hamas should be shunned as long as it refuses to recognise Israel's right to exist or renounce violence.
    Hamas says it is a legitimate resistance group fighting Israeli occupation. Carter said Hamas, which won Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006, must be involved in any arrangements that could lead to peace.
    Carter has expressed sympathy for the Palestinians during his tour, calling the blockade of Gaza a crime and an atrocity.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register