http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/976662.html
Trade Minister Eli Yishai meeting with former U.S. president Jimmy Carter in Jerusalem on Monday. (Nir Keidar) Last update - 18:49 21/04/2008 Meshal: Hamas will accept Palestinian state on '67 borders By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent and News Agencies Tags: Khaled Meshal, Israel, Hamas Hamas' political leader Khaled Meshal on Monday reiterated his earlier affirmation that Hamas accepts the establishment of a Palestinian state on land captured by Israel in 1967 but would not recognize Israel. Commenting on efforts by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to persuade Hamas to back peace talks between Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Meshal said Hamas would "respect Palestinian national will even if it was against our convictions." Meshal's remarks appeared in line with comments made by Carter in Jerusalem on Monday following talks in Damascus with the Hamas leader on Friday. Advertisement Carter said on Monday that Hamas is prepared to accept the right of Israel to "live in peace" within 1967 borders. He also said the Islamist group would willing to accept a peace deal initiated by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas if it were favored in a national referendum. "There's no doubt that both the Arab world and the Palestinians, including Hamas, will accept Israel's right to live in peace within the 1967 borders." His comments came after he met after he met last week with the top Hamas leaders, including Meshal, in Syria. Carter was back in Jerusalem this week to brief Israeli leaders on his talks with Meshal regarding a proposed truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip as well as an exchange of prisoners between them. The former U.S. president told reporters in Jerusalem on Monday that Hamas leaders said they would accept a peace agreement negotiated by their rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, if Palestinians approved the deal in a vote. "They said they would accept a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders if approved by Palestinians ... even though Hamas might disagree with some terms of the agreement," Carter said in a speech, after talks in Syria and Egypt with Hamas leaders. "It means that Hamas will not undermine Abbas' efforts to negotiate an agreement and Hamas will accept an agreement if the Palestinians support it in a free vote," he said. But Carter said he was told by Hamas that a referendum on a peace deal must be preceded by reconciliation between the group and Abbas' Fatah faction. Hamas seized the Gaza Strip from Fatah in fighting in June. A Hamas official in the Gaza Strip also referred to a series of preconditions raised by the Islamist group for assenting to a deal with Israel. Sami Abu Zuhri said Palestinian refugees living in exile must be included in the voting - a condition that could complicate approval of a deal. Abu Zuhri also noted that Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel, would regard any future Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Six Day War, as "transitional". Speaking later to reporters, Carter said Hamas leaders whom he met "didn't say anything about transitional". Unlike Abbas, who sought a Palestinian state side-by-side with Israel, Abu Zuhri said Hamas's outstanding position not to recognize Israel's right to exist remained unchanged despite of its acceptance of a state in 1967 borders. Carter said Hamas turned down his proposal for a 30-day unilateral cease-fire with Israel but Egypt would continue its efforts to mediate a truce. "I did the best I could on that," Carter said of his failure to persuade Hamas to halt rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. Carter: Assad believes most differences with Israel already resolved Syrian President Basher Assad is "eager" to restart negotiations with Israel over the Golan Heights and believes that 85 percent of the differences between the two countries have already been resolved, Carter said on Monday. Speaking to reporters following talks with officials in Syria and Egypt, Carter said: "In all my conversations with President Assad, whom I've known since he was a college student, I was impressed with their eagerness, complete the agreement on the Golan Heights." According to Carter, Assad said that "the only major difference in starting good faith talks was that Israel insisted that there will be no public acknowledgement that the talks were going on when Syria insisted that the talks would not be a secret." The former U.S. president also relayed that Assad believes "85 percent of the differences [between Israel and Syria] had already been resolved, including an agreement on the borders, on water rights - which is applied on the Sea of Galilee - on the security zone and on the presence of international forces." Carter reiterated that "Syria believes that for all practical purposes all the differences have already been resolved between Syria and Israel and it is just a matter of reconvening the talks and concluding an agreement." Speaking about the possibility of renewed peace talks between Israel and Syria, he said "Syria wants the U.S. to play a strong role in bringing to two sides together." In recent days, both Olmert and Assad have confirmed putting out feelers to each other about resuming negotiations Talks broke off in 2000 after Syria rejected Israel's offer to return the Golan Heights, which it captured in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed. Carter: Hamas ready to release letter from Shalit Carter also told Trade Minister Eli Yishai on Monday that Hamas was prepared to release another letter from abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit to his family. According to Carter, Meshal has promised that Shalit - who was kidnapped by Hamas militants in a cross-border raid in June 2006 - is in good physical health. Carter told Yishai that Hamas was prepared to transfer Shalit into Egyptian hands as part of a packaged deal which would include the release of Palestinian prisoners. The former U.S. leader said the Islamists had no opposition to releasing the soldier as part of a prisoner swap. He also asked Yishai to consider meeting with officials in Egypt regarding Shalit's release. Yishai responded that he has already met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the Egyptian intelligence chief, Omar Suleiman, on the matter, but said he would consider another meeting. The former U.S. leader told Yishai that Meshal had appreciated Yishai's offer to meet with the Islamist group regarding the Shalit deal, but did not want to compromise Egyptian mediation by doing so. 'Problem is refusal of U.S., Israel to meet Hamas' Carter also told reporters following his return to Israel on Monday the "problem" was not his decision to meet with the Islamist group, but rather the refusal of Israel and the U.S. to do the same. "The problem is not that I met with with Hamas in Syria. The problem is that Israel and the United States refuse to meet with someone who must be involved," the former U.S. leader said during a speech in Jerusalem. He urged Israel to engage in direct negotiations with Hamas, saying failure to do so was hampering peace efforts. "We do not believe that peace is likely and certainly that peace is not sustainable unless a way is found to bring Hamas into the discussions in some way," he said. "The present strategy of excluding Hamas and excluding Syria is just not working." Carter and Meshal held more than four hours of talks Friday night that discussed how the Islamist group could be drawn into a Middle East peace plan and drop its opposition to peace talks between Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the rival Fatah faction. Carter demanded that Hamas stops firing rockets on Israel while he pursues efforts with Israel and the West to lift the siege on the Gaza strip, which is ruled by Hamas, politicians familiar with the meetings said. Meshal said Saturday that he would announce his decision regarding Carter's proposals on Sunday. In his comments Monday, Carter said Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking has regressed since a U.S.-hosted Middle East conference in Annapolis, Maryland, in November. Speaking about the possibility of renewed peace talks between Israel and Syria, he said Syria wants the U.S. to play a strong role in bringing to two sides together. Both the Israeli and U.S. governments disapprove of Carter's overtures to Hamas. Over the weekend, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he decided not to meet with Carter in Israel because he does not wish to be seen as participating in any negotiations with Hamas. Related articles: a.. Syria 'eager' to restart Golan talks, says Carter a.. Talks with Hamas / One stage or many? a.. Meshal to announce decision over Carter truce proposals Sunday a.. Jimmy Carter: Israel must talk to everyone a.. Abbas says will discuss peace agreement with Bush Tuesday
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