Carter denies State Department told him to shun Hamas
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Former US President Jimmy Carter denied on Wednesday that the State Department warned him not to meet with leaders of Hamas before he made a recent trip to the Middle East.
The Carter Center statement said the former president attempted to call Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice before making the trip and a deputy returned his call since Rice was in Europe.
"They had a very pleasant discussion for about 15 minutes, during which he never made any of the negative or cautionary comments described," The Carter Center statement said. (Reuters)
