Swiss foreign minister, Micheline Calmy-Rey, says Hamas is a major player in Mideast

Published yesterday (updated) 20/07/2009 18:42

Hamas is a "major player" in the Middle East, Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said on Sunday, according to AFP.

In an interview with the Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag, Calmy-Rey referred to a visit a Hamas delegation made to the Swiss capital, Bern, two weeks ago, during which the Islamic movement’s members met with top government officials. Calmy-Rey herself met with senior Hamas official Mahmoud Az-Zahhar, AFP said.

“Hamas is a major player in the Middle East… and you cannot ignore it if you want to end this decade-long conflict," Calmy-Rey told the newspaper. She expressed concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza in the same interview.

Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Thomas Pickering also met Az-Zahhar while he was in Switzerland, the Washington Post revealed last week.

Although it won internationally-supervised parliamentary elections in 2006, Hamas is shunned by the US, Israel, and many European states, who view the movement as a “terrorist organization.”

Israel meanwhile reportedly expressed anger at the Hamas visit. "We are surprised that Switzerland would allow a delegation, from what most countries categorize as a terror organization, to enter its territory," said a statement by the Israeli Embassy in Switerland.

The Swiss Foreign Ministry said it was "surprised" by the Israeli response, AFP said, especially since Switzerland makes it a point to stay neutral and act as a mediator.

Swiss FM: Hamas important player in the Middle East

[ 20/07/2009 - 03:59 PM ]

BERN, (PIC)--

Micheline Calmy-Rey, the Swiss foreign minister, has described the Hamas Movement as an "important player" in the Middle East that could not be ignored.

Calmy-Rey, who was interviewed Sunday by the Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag, was responding to the Israeli ire over a visit to Switzerland by a delegation of the Hamas Movement, where the delegation members met with Swiss officials.

A senior delegation of the Hamas Movement recently toured a number of European countries to explain the Movement's stands regarding various issues while a number of European delegations visited Damascus and the Gaza Strip to meet members of its political bureau and other leaders.

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