- Title: SYRIA: U.S. President Jimmy Carter meets Hamas Leader Khaled Meshaal in Damascus
- Date: 19th April 2008
- Summary: (EU) DAMASCUS, SYRIA (APRIL 18, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER'S CONVOY ARRIVING AT HAMAS LEADER KHALED MESHAAL OFFICE VARIOUS OF CAR AND SECURITY AROUND OFFICE ENTRANCE
- Embargoed: 4th May 2008 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA3EBIHEHCXJU0SAU9XTTRKUNE3
- Story Text: Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter started his meeting with Hamas Leader Khaled Meshaal in Damascus on Friday (April 18), after earlier meeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said Carter discussed Syrian-American relations and the Gaza situation, alongside the latest developments in Iraq, Lebanon and the Mideast peace process with Assad.
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 (April 17) 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.
dam/jrc - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None