Hamas Chief Meets Egypt President, Hails “New Era”

The leader of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement which rules the Gaza Strip, met new Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Thursday and hailed Mursi’s election as the start of a “new era” for Egypt and the Palestinians.

It was Khaled Meshaal’s first visit to Egypt since Morsi won the country’s first free leadership vote.

The founding of Hamas was inspired by Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood – Egypt’s oldest and most established Islamist movement – but the Palestinian group now operates independently because of its location and the conflict with Israel.

Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, is regarded by the West as a terrorist group for its refusal to recognise Israel and renounce violence.

Meshaal and Mursi discussed ways to ensure that Gaza, which borders Egypt, gets the gas and petroleum it needs despite an Israeli blockade of the territory.

“We have entered a new era in Palestine’s relationship with Egypt, the big sister and the leader of the Arab nation,” Meshaal said after the meeting. “We were happy with what we heard from President Mohamed Mursi and his vision to handle all these issues.”

The talks lasted almost two hours, twice as long as Mursi’s meeting a day earlier with Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority and leader of Fatah, Hamas’s rival.

Hamas was isolated by Egypt under Mursi’s ousted predecessor Hosni Mubarak, as well as by other Gulf and Arab states and the West. It was embraced by Iran, Hezbollah and Syria – an alliance built on hostility to Israel – though Hamas is Sunni Muslim and its three allies are Shi’ite or Shi’ite-linked Alawites.

Reuters