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Hamas Leader Heads for Moscow
Hamas political chief Khaled Mashaal is to travel to Russia on February 25 for three-day talks, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported Thursday quoting a source in the Russian foreign ministry.
Mr. Mashaal is to hold consultations in Moscow on the Middle East situation to discuss the results of the Quarter of Middle East peace negotiators, the source said Thursday.
A Hamas delegation led by Khaled Mashaal was in Moscow last March. They met Russia’s Muslim spiritual leader Ravil Gainutdinov, head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexiy II and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The Russian foreign policy chief said after the talks that the parties had not changed their positions on the Middle East settlement. Hamas, however, considered the visit a breakthrough which helped it to become legitimate on the international arena.
Israeli authorities lambasted Russia’s tolerant position towards the Islamist organization which had claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks, calling the invitation for Hamas to visit Moscow “stabbing Israel in the back”.
Ehud Olmert, Israel’s then acting prime minister, downplayed the criticism later, saying that he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin is “a friend of Israel”.
www.kommersant.com
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