Syria Today ( Syrie) : "British MPs meet Hamas supremo in Syria"

British MPs meet Hamas supremo in Syria

1 day ago

DAMASCUS (AFP) —

Hamas political supremo Khaled Meshaal met a group of visiting British lawmakers in Damascus for the second time in a month, the Palestinian Islamist movement said on Wednesday.

The delegation headed by Labour MP Roger Godsiff held talks with Meshaal on Tuesday following a similar meeting with another group of British and Irish deputies in the Syrian capital last month.

At Tuesday's meeting, Meshaal accused the international community of failing to live up to its "moral and humanitarian obligations" by putting political conditions on reconstruction aid for the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Hamas is branded a terrorist group by the European Union, Israel and the United States, which boycott it over its refusal to abide by demands it renounce violence, recognise Israel and honour past peace accords.

Meshaal -- who lives in exile in Syria - also met a group of visiting Italian and Greek MPs last month.

He told the visiting MPs on Tuesday that "foreign intervention undermines national Palestinian reconciliation," referring to the talks between Hamas and the rival Fatah faction of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

Hamas and Fatah have held several rounds of reconciliation talks in Egypt aimed at creating a unity government to facilitate peace negotiations with Israel but discussions were suspended earlier this month.

The Hamas statement quoted the British MPs as saying that peace in the region could not be accomplished without launching dialogue with the Islamist group.