Carter meets Hamas leaders from Gaza in Egypt

[ckramer]

Source: R

CAIRO (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter met leaders from the Islamist movement Hamas from the besieged Gaza Strip at a Cairo hotel on Thursday, his second meeting with Hamas members in three days.

Former Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar and former Interior Minister Saeed Seyam did not speak to reporters at the start of their talks with Carter, who is on a Middle East tour to explore possibilities for peace.

Zahar and Seyam came to Cairo on Wednesday after the Israeli authorities refused to let Carter into Gaza from the Israeli side. Carter has already met a West Bank leader from Hamas and is expected to meet overall leader Khaled Meshaal in Damascus.

Israel and the U.S. administration have criticized Carter's contacts with the movement, which they call a terrorist group.

But Carter argued in Jerusalem that it was counterproductive to exclude Hamas completely from consultations.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSL1743623820080417

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Carter the man!

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Good for Carter

One reason the US is so distrusted in the Middle East is that it has for years given the impression that it sided totally with Israel and that it only backs dictators in Islamic states. To gain peace in the Middle East, it is important to meet with democratically elected governments representing the Palestinians.