Carter meets Hamas chief over Israeli, US objections

By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer

DAMASCUS, Syria – Former President Carter met Friday with the exiled leader of Hamas and the militant group’s deputy chief, men the U.S. government has labeled as global terrorists and Israel accuses of masterminding suicide bombings and kidnappings.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, left, meets with Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, at the Presidential palace in Damascus, Syria, on Friday, April 18, 2008. Carter met Friday with Syrian President Bashar Assad and later with the exiled leader of Hamas, a day after he had asked senior officials from the militant Palestinian group he met in Egypt to stop rocket attacks into Israel. No media was allowed at the Hamas meeting. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi)

Carter’s meeting with Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal followed two other meetings between the former American president and the Palestinian militant group in the Middle East this week. Hamas officials say the meetings have lent their group legitimacy.

Mashaal’s deputy Moussa Abu Marzouk attended the meeting with Carter at Mashaal’s Damascus office, a Hamas official at the site told The Associated Press. Abu Marzouk was designated a terrorist by the U.S. Treasury Department in 1995, allowing the government to seize his assets. He was detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York that same year and spent two years in a New York jail before he was deported in 1997.

Carter’s convoy arrived at Mashaal’s office for the meeting under tight security and reporters were prevented from getting near the site. The meeting was closed to all media.

The U.S. State Department twice advised Carter against meeting Hamas….

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Tags: Carter, Hamas, kidnappings, suicide bombing