Carter says request to enter Gaza turned down

Ramallah: Former US president Jimmy Carter said on Tuesday his request to enter the Gaza Strip was turned down.
Israel's secret service also declined to assist US agents guarding Carter, who met with Israeli president Shimon Peres on Monday.

"I haven't been able to get permission to go into Gaza. I would like to. I asked for permission. But I was turned down," Carter said after meeting diplomats in Ramallah.

Carter is planning to meet top Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Syria, sparking anger from the Israeli government and opposition from the White House.

Carter said on Tuesday he would use his meeting with Meshaal to "get him to agree to a peaceful resolution of differences, both with the Israelis... and also with Fatah".

During his visit to Ramallah on Tuesday, Carter said he planned to meet Palestinian political leaders, including Naser Al Shaer.

Carter said his role in the Israeli-Hamas situation is to try "to understand different opinions and communicate…between people who won't communicate with each other."

Carter deplored Palestinian militants' attacks on Israel as a "despicable crime" while touring a rocket-battered Israeli town on Monday.