Carter to meet two senior Hamas leaders in Egypt

Gaza: Hamas on Wednesday said that former US President Jimmy Carter would meet two of its leaders from Gaza in Egypt, in further defiance of Israeli leaders, who have shunned him over his contacts with the group.

Hamas official Ayman Taha told Reuters senior leaders Mahmoud Al Zahar and Saeed Seyam would travel to Cairo later in the day for talks with Carter, who began a Middle East visit on Sunday.

"Carter asked for the meeting. He wanted to hear the Hamas vision regarding the situation, and we are interested in clarifying our position and emphasising the rights of our people," Taha said.

Carter's delegation in Israel declined to comment.

Speaking at a peace forum in a hotel in occupied Jerusalem, Carter said to have Hamas "completely excluded even from conversations or consultations, I think, is counterproductive".

He did not say who he planned to meet in Egypt.

Carter had wanted to visit the Gaza Strip, which is governed by Hamas but Israel rejected his request.

All the border crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip are controlled by Israel. Egyptian forces are stationed at Gaza's southern border, which is usually closed.

On Tuesday, in West Bank, Carter met Naser Al Shair, who served as the deputy prime minister in the Hamas-led government that the United States and other Western powers boycotted.

Israeli displeasure

Carter has angered the Israeli government with plans to meet Hamas's top leader, Khalid Mesha'al, in Syria, and by describing Israeli policy in the occupied Palestinian territories as "a system of apartheid" in a 2006 book.

Carter, a broker of Israel's 1979 peace treaty with Egypt, met Israel's ceremonial president Shimon Peres on Sunday but was shunned by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other policymakers.

Carter stressed he was not acting during his current regional visit as negotiator or mediator but that he hoped, "just as a communicator", to relay to leaders of the United States what Hamas and Syria have to say.

Shair said he and Carter had discussed efforts to broker an unofficial truce between Israel and Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip.

He said Carter had also voiced a desire to help in trying to end the enmity between Hamas and Fatah.