Lame ducks meeting |
Khaled Meshaal with the new "leader of the Arab nation" |
Sami Sehab |
Hamas chief hails "big sister" Egypt after Mursi meet
The leader of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement which rules the Gaza Strip, met new Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi on Thursday and hailed Mursi's election as the start of a "new era" for Egypt and the Palestinians.
The founding of Hamas was inspired by Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood - Egypt's oldest and most established Islamist movement - but the Palestinian group now operates independently because of its location and the conflict with Israel.
Hamas, which won the elections in Gaza in 2006, refuses to recognize Israel and calls for the liberation of Palestinian land.
Meshaal and Mursi discussed ways to ensure that Gaza, which borders Egypt, gets the gas and petroleum it needs despite a crippling Israeli blockade of the territory.
"We have entered a new era in Palestine's relationship with Egypt, the big sister and the leader of the Arab nation," Meshaal said after the meeting. "We were happy with what we heard from President Mohamed Mursi and his vision to handle all these issues."
The talks lasted almost two hours, twice as long as Mursi's meeting a day earlier with Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority and leader of Fatah, Hamas's rival.
Hamas was isolated by Egypt under Mursi's ousted predecessor dictator Hosni Mubarak, as well as by other Gulf and Arab states and the West.
It was embraced by Iran, Hezbollah and Syria - an alliance built on hostility to Israel - forming an axis of opposition to the Zionist state.
Mursi is under pressure from many in his movement to help ease the Gaza blockade, which Mubarak was complicit in by closing the country's border with Gaza.
Egypt's army-backed government decided in February to let more fuel into Gaza and increase electricity supplies.
But Hamas has yet to see any sign of a policy shift since the election of Mursi, who is keen not to upset Egypt's ally, the United States, and weaken his hand in a struggle with the powerful military.
Meshaal said Egypt's presidency and intelligence services would continue to shepherd a reconciliation process between Hamas and Fatah that began last year.
"Egypt has a key role in this," he said, adding that Hamas "remains strategically committed to the reconciliation."
(Reuters, Al-Akhbar)
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