Carter meets Hamas political chief
The former US president says talks are needed to assist Israeli-Palestinian relations.
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Al Jazeera’s Clayton Swisher reported that Carter’s talks with Meshaal ran over for more than an hour and a half without a break in an atmosphere described as “pleasant”.
“Al Jazeera has learned, based on exclusive sources inside the Carter-Hamas talks, that a delegation of Hamas officials from the Gaza Strip, led by the Hamas foreign minister Mahmoud Zahar, is going to arrive in Damascus on Saturday to join the talks with President Carter and Hamas leadership,” Swisher said.
He added that the talks covered four key areas, which are rocket attacks inside Israel, exchange of prisoners, lifting the economic siege against the people of Gaza as well as a proposal by an Israeli minister to meet Hamas to discuss the fate of an Israeli soldier held by the Palestinians.
Eli Yishai, the Israeli deputy prime minister, said he was ready to meet Meshaal to negotiate the release of prisoners held by the movement, according to Friday’s Haaretz daily newspaper.
The newspaper quoted Yishai as telling Carter: “I am ready to meet with all necessary Hamas members.”
US reaction
The US administration played down the importance of the Carter-Meshaal meeting.
David Foley, the US State Department spokesman for Near East Affairs, told Al Jazeera: “We’ve been very clear about our position about Jimmy Carter. Former President Carter is a private citizen and is on a private visit. He does not have the support of the United States government.”
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On the possibility of considering Hamas as peace partner, Foley said: “We want to see Hamas part of the peace process, to be a partner for peace with the Israelis that will lead to two states side by side living in peace and security.
“We have set out together with the European Union, the Russians and the United Nations very simple conditions for Hamas to begin to address the very difficult challenges and frankly the compromises that are going to be necessary.
“We need to see Hamas simply do a couple of things first and that will show that they are actually serious about peace.”
Earlier on Friday, Hamas said Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier captured by fighters in the Gaza Strip, would “not see the light” until Palestinian prisoners were released in a prisoner exchange.
Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas official, said in a speech in Gaza: “Gilad will not see the light, will not see his mother, will not see his father, God willing, as long as our heroic prisoners do not see their families, in their houses.”
Egyptian-led talks over a prisoner swap have been bogged down. Hamas has demanded the release of hundreds of prisoners. Israel has agreed to release some inmates, but has balked at some of those on Hamas’s list.
Cairo meetings
Russia talks
In Moscow, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, met Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, to discuss plans for a Middle East peace conference, as Moscow seeks a greater diplomatic role in the region.
Abbas, left, wants Russia to play a greater role |
A Kremlin official told journalists on condition of anonymity that “special attention will be paid to. .. possible steps by Russia, including its initiative to hold a Moscow meeting on the Middle East“.
The official said Putin and Abbas would discuss how to stabilise the situation and restore Palestinian unity.
Earlier in his visit, Abbas said a Moscow conference was urgently needed as Israeli-Palestinian talks started in Annapolis in the United States last November were “not advancing at the required pace or yielding the necessary progress”.
Separately Abbas told the newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta that the conference would “be evidence of Russia‘s significance in the region and would strengthen her role in the peace process”.
The US welcomed the Russian engagement in the peace process.
Foley told Al Jazeera: “Russia is a very valued member of the Quartet. They’ve been part of these [peace] discussions. Certainly we will welcome Russian engagement.”