Carter briefs Jordan's king on Hamas meetings
Carter meets Jordanian King Abdullah to report talks with Hamas; group offical says Shalit will not be freed until prisoner exchange is made possible
Former US President Carter briefed Jordan's king Saturday on his controversial talks with the exiled militant Hamas leader, a Royal Palace official said.
But King Abdullah II chose to focus their meeting on the faltering Israeli-Palestinian peace process rather than Carter's dealings with Hamas, which has frosty relations with Jordan, said the official on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Carter held talks with Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal and his deputy in Syria on Friday and Saturday — defying US and Israeli warnings that doing so would lend legitimacy to the group, responsible for suicide bombings and other attacks that have killed some 250 Israelis.
Jordan also accuses Hamas of stockpiling and concealing weapons in the kingdom with the intention of using them to destabilize the pro-US government.
The broker
Hamas officials said they talked with Carter about an internationally backed Israeli embargo on Gaza and a possible Israel-Hamas prisoner swap.
Carter, who brokered the 1978 Israeli-Egyptian peace, is trying to secure the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit; but Hamas has said Shalit would "not see the light" until Palestinian prisoners are also released in an exchange. Hamas also did not respond to Carter's requests that it halt rocket fire on Israeli border towns.
Abdullah's closed-door talks with Carter came as Israel killed six Hamas militants in a series of air strikes after the group detonated two jeeps packed with 220 lbs. of explosives at an Israeli crossing on the Gaza border.
It was not immediately known what Carter said to Abdullah about his talks with Mashaal. Carter, who has said he is on a personal peace mission, has not publicly commented since being in Syria.
According to a statement released by the Royal Palace, Abdullah discussed with Carter ways to help "Palestinians and Israelis continue their negotiations on final status issues leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state."
The king also urged Israel to "abandon its siege (of the Gaza Strip) and settlement expansion," the statement said
Carter will be in Jerusalem on Monday for the final stop on his Mideast tour.
