16 April 2009

Hamas politburo Chief Khaled Mashaal met a group of visiting British lawmakers in Damascus for the second time in a month, the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement said on Wednesday.

The delegation headed by Labor MP Roger Godsiff held talks with Mashaal on Tuesday following a similar meeting with another group of British and Irish deputies in the Syrian capital last month in what is considered as the European openness towards the resistance groups in the region.

Mashaal accused the international community of failing to live up to its "moral and humanitarian obligations" by putting political conditions on reconstruction aid for the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

He told the visiting MPs on Tuesday that "foreign intervention undermines national Palestinian reconciliation," referring to the talks between Hamas and the rival Fatah faction of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose term ended on January 9.

Hamas and Fatah have held several rounds of reconciliation talks in Egypt aimed at creating a unity government to facilitate peace negotiations with Israel but discussions were suspended earlier this month to be resumed on April 23.

The Hamas statement quoted the British MPs as saying that peace in the region could not be accomplished without launching dialogue with the Islamic resistance group.

Mashaal - who lives in exile in Syria - also met a group of visiting Italian and Greek MPs last month.

Assad Urges Europe to Play Active Role to Achieve Peace

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad affirmed on Wednesday the need for European parliaments to play a more active role in achieving peace in the Middle East, particularly since neighboring Europe is more capable of understanding regional issues and problems, pointing out that peace guarantees security, stability and prosperity for the region's peoples which would reflect positively on Europe and the World.

During his meeting with a British parliamentary delegation from the British-Syrian Society headed by MP Richard Spring, Assad discussed the important role of parliaments in bolstering friendship among peoples and countries through increasing communication to reach a deeper and more comprehensive vision that helps introduce the reality of the regional situation to the public opinion.

According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), Assad also reviewed the Syrian vision regarding regional issues in light of regional and international developments, particularly in Palestine and Iraq, and means for achieving a more secure and stable situation in the region.

For their part, the delegation members affirmed Syria's vital and pivotal role in achieving peace and stability in the region, expressing gratitude for Syria's incessant efforts to resolve regional issues and praising the its values of tolerance and fraternity and the hospitality of the Syrian people.