HAMAS HAS NEVER MEDDLED IN ANY COUNTRY’S HOME AFFAIRS: MISHAAL

Ankara, 30 Shawwal 1436/15 August 2015 (MINA) – Political bureau head of Hamas, Khaled Mishaal, denied recent allegations on the group’s interference in the Syrian and Egyptian home affairs.

Mishaal, currently in Ankara for a meeting with the Turkish President and the Prime Minister, told the BBC TV Channel that any journalist can prove such allegations false without necessarily checking with the group’s leadership, The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

He reiterated Hamas’s adoption of a policy of non-interference as regards the internal affairs of other states, saying: “The group’s ties with Arab states aim at mobilizing the nation’s support for the Palestinian cause.”

He further stressed the strategic role played by Saudi Arabia in the region.

On Wednesday, Mishaal met with the Turkish President and the Prime Minister in Ankara, where they went over the latest regional and international developments affecting the Palestinian cause.

Earlier this year, Mishaal met the Turkish President as he joined the annual congress of the Turkish ruling Justice and Development Party. Both parties discussed the Palestinian cause and ways to lift the tough siege on Gaza.

Mishaal had also recently met with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Doha and received an official invitation to visit Moscow.

A few weeks earlier, Hamas’s chief paid a visit to Saudi Arabia, where he met King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz.

A series of meetings was also carried out by Mishaal with European officials and delegations, most notably former Middle East Quartet Envoy, also former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair over possible ways to stabilize the ceasefire in the blockaded Gaza Strip. (T/P011/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)