By Anne Penketh
European nations have opened a direct dialogue with Hamas as the United States intensifies the search for Middle East peace under President Barack Obama.
In the first meeting of its kind, two French senators travelled to Damascus two weeks ago to meet the leader of the Palestinian Islamist faction, Khaled Meshal, it has been revealed. Two British MPs met three weeks ago in Beirut with the Hamas representative in Lebanon, Usamah Hamdan.
“Far more people are talking to Hamas than anyone might think,” said a senior European diplomat. “It is the beginning of something new - although we are not negotiating.”
Mr Hamdan said yesterday that since the end of last year, MPs from Sweden, the Netherlands, and three other western European nations which he declined to identify, have consulted with Hamas representatives. Some of them had met Mr Meshal, who lives under Syrian protection, he added.
“They believe they made a mistake by blacklisting Hamas,” he said, referring to the EU decision in 2003 to add the political wing of the movement to its list of terrorist organisations. “Now they know they have to talk to Hamas.”
Political contacts with Hamas are banned under the rules of the international Quartet for Middle East peace - which groups the US, EU, Russia and the UN - on the grounds that the Palestinian faction remains committed to the destruction of Israel. Read more ...
Source: Belfast Telegraph
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