SYRIA: Hamas leader-in-exile, Khaled Meshaal, met with Syrian Vice-President Farouq al-Shara in Damascus

Record ID: 862430

  • Title: SYRIA: Hamas leader-in-exile, Khaled Meshaal, met with Syrian Vice-President Farouq al-Shara in Damascus
  • Date: 8th June 2007
  • Summary: MESHAAL ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE MESHAAL AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic)KHALED MESHAAL, HAMAS LEADER, SAYING: "The Palestinian people must not be blamed for defending themselves. The rockets are a form of self-defense. Let the international community stop Israeli aggression and then the Palestinian people can be asked to stop firing rockets." MESHAAL AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic)KHALED MESHAAL, HAMAS LEADER, SAYING: "There is talk of a joint meeting that has yet to be determined. We welcome, of course, any meetings with Fatah and other factions in order to reinforce our national unity." WIDE OF MESHAAL AT NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 23rd June 2007 13:00
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  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA9Y9WLFFDLKG6HKA367HZXUG2N
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  • Story Text: Hamas leader-in-exile, Khaled Meshaal, met with Syrian Vice-President Farouq al-Shara in Damascus on Thursday (May 31).
    Meshaal blamed Israel for the escalation of violence in the Palestinian Territories and said that the international community should step up pressure on the Jewish state.
    "The Palestinian people must not be blamed for defending themselves. The rockets are a form of self-defense. Let the international community stop Israeli aggression and then the Palestinian people can be asked to stop firing rockets," Meshaal told reporters after the meeting with al-Shara.
    Hamas and other militant groups have fired more than 270 rockets from Gaza, killing two Israelis, over the past two weeks. Israel has hit back mainly with air strikes, killing nearly 50 Palestinians, most of them militants.
    On Tuesday (May 29), Abbas proposed a truce covering the Gaza Strip, and then extending the ceasefire to the occupied West Bank within a month.
    Hamas, which formed a unity government with Fatah two months ago, says any ceasefire must include an immediate end to all Israeli attacks in both territories, a demand rejected repeatedly by Israel.
    On the bloody in-fighting that has plagued the Palestinian Territories in recent months Meshaal said:
    "There is talk of a joint meeting that has yet to be determined. We welcome, of course, any meetings with Fatah and other factions in order to reinforce our national unity."
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