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Meshaal meets Morsi in Cairo
The leader of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement which rules the Gaza Strip, met new Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Thursday and hailed Morsi's election as the start of a "new era" for Egypt and the Palestinians.

It was Khaled Meshal's first visit to Egypt since Morsi won the country's first free leadership vote.
I'm surprised Khaled came out of hiding. He's usually afraid of his own shadow...
The founding of Hamas was inspired by Morsi'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 recognize Israel and renounce violence.

Meshal and Morsi 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
Is that not an insult in that part of the world, implying the powerlessness and unimportance of the passed over female? Elder brother, on the other hand, would be both a compliment and imply mutual rights and responsibilities. One wonders that Leader Meshal dared say such a thing.
and the leader of the Arab nation," Meshal said after the meeting. "We were happy with what we heard from President Mohamed Morsi and his vision to handle all these issues."

The talks lasted almost two hours, twice as long as Morsi's meeting a day earlier with the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority and leader of Fatah, Hamas's rival.
Guess who the strong horse is, Mahmoud...
Hamas was isolated by Egypt under Morsi's ousted predecessor Hosni Mubarak, as well as by other Gulf and Arab states and the West. Morsi is under pressure from many in his movement to help ease the Gaza blockade. Palestinians accuse Egypt of being complicit in the blockade by closing its border with Gaza.

Egypt's army-backed government decided in February to let more fuel into Gaza and increase electricity supplies.

But Hamas has yet to see any sign of a policy shift since the election of Morsi, who is keen not to upset Egypt's ally, the United States, and weaken his hand in a struggle with the powerful military.

Meshal said Egypt's presidency and intelligence services would continue to shepherd a reconciliation process between Hamas and Fatah that began last year.

"Egypt has a key role in this," he said, adding that Hamas "remains strategically committed to the reconciliation".
Where reconciliation means the PA agrees to leave Hamas in charge of the Gaza Strip, stop harassing Hamasniks in the West Bank, and wage war on Israel, at least.

Posted by: Steve White 2012-07-20
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=348734