http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gFmyPixzh5zLLl31TliHNEbqV9BwGENEVA (AFP) — Kofi Annan on Tuesday defended former US president Jimmy Carter for holding direct talks with Hamas in Syria in the face of sharp attacks from both Israel and the White House.
"I don't think the criticism is entirely fair," the former United Nations secretary general told reporters at a press conference for his new Global Humanitarian Forum in Geneva.
"We should be cautious not to over-react but take advantage of whatever openings president Carter has been able to obtain to move the process forward," he said.
"He's the only president who's been able to broker an enduring peace agreement between Israel and Egypt and for that we are very grateful," Annan said...
Continued...
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gFmyPixzh5zLLl31TliHNEbqV9Bw-------------------------------------
and VIDEO from RealNews.com;
Carter comes back from Hamas with an olive branchhttp://therealnews.com/web/index.php?thisdataswitch=0&thisid=1382&thisview=item&renewx=2008-04-23+09%3A03%3A15Aijaz Ahmad: Carter including Hamas in peace process is itself a major development
Wednesday April 23rd, 2008
David Newman, professor of political geography at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University, tells The Real News Network that Hamas’ claim that it will respect a peace deal with Israel—if it is accepted in a vote by Palestinians—represents “a more moderate position” than what the group has previously expressed.
The Real News senior analyst Aijaz Ahmad concludes that Hamas’ new, slightly softened stance could represent “a major breakthrough” in the ongoing standoff between Israel and the Islamic militant group.