Iranian foreign minister meets with heads of Hamas, Islamic Jihad in Syria

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki met in Damascus with Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Mashaal and with Secretary-General of Islamic Jihad, Ramadan Shalah, according to the IRNA news agency.

Mottaki expressed his hope that 2008 would be "a year of victory and revival for the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine" and "a year of failure for America and Israel." (Dudi Cohen)