Assad Refuses To Pass Israeli Message to Hamas

Syria Media Report, 12-Sep-08

IWPR

Institute for War & Peace Reporting

Friday, 12 September, 2008

Assad Refuses To Pass Israeli Message to Hamas

Syria Media Report, 12-Sep-08

The pro-government website Cham Press reported on September 6 that president Bashar al-Assad had refused to pass a message to the Palestinian group Hamas from the father of imprisoned Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy said he gave the message to Assad during his visit to Damascus last week.

The armed wing of Hamas seized Shalit during a raid near the Gaza Strip in July 2006.

The website denied Arab media reports that Assad had delivered the message to Hamas, saying he told Sarkozy that “it is not our role” to act as a mediator between Hamas and Israel.

Qatar emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, who participated in a four-country summit with France and Turkey in Damascus last week, has passed the letter to Hamas leader Khaled Meshal.

The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai reported last week that Meshal had left Damascus for Sudan at the request of the Syrian authorities. A Hamas official in Syria denied the report.

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