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World Jewish News
Hamas leader to address British lawmakers
22.04.2009
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal will take part in a question-and-answer session with British lawmakers.
Claire Short, a former British minister of international development who is organizing Wednesday's meeting, drew criticism from the British government, the opposition and the Israeli government.
Short, who resigned from the Blair government over the war in Iraq, organized the scheduled session during a visit to Damascus. She has been a longtimecritic of Israel.
The Damascus-based Mashaal is the head of Hamas' political bureau and is considered to be the main decision-maker in the Islamic fundamentalist organization.
A spokeswoman for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said that the members of parliament who plan to talk to Mashaal are doing so in a "private capacity," adding that "there are no plans for any government contacts."
"We do not believe it is productive to talk to Hamas directly," said the spokeswoman, adding that "Hamas is a terrorist organization. They fire rockets at innocent civilians. They put ordinary Palestinians in harms way. They murder and maim their political opponents. We believe that to talk to Hamas directly at this time would simply undermine those Palestinians who are committed to peace.
"The Arab League has mandated Egypt to communicate with Hamas. We are in regular contact with both the Arab League and Egypt."
Источник: JTA
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