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Meshaal denies Saudi pressure to tone down criticism of Egypt

August 18, 2015 at 2:39 pm

The head of the Hamas political bureau has denied being under pressure from Saudi Arabia to tone down the language used in criticism of Egypt, Rassd.com reported on Monday. Khaled Meshaal made his comments on the BBC show “Without Borders”.

According to Rassd, Meshaal said that there is new hope for improving relations with Egypt and pointed out that Hamas is not trying to be involved in internal Egyptian or Syrian issues. The movement’s policy, he insisted, is not to cause a crisis between these two countries.

Meshaal stressed that Saudi Arabia did not put any pressure on Hamas regarding Egypt. “Neither they [the Saudis] nor any other country has ever asked us to change our policies towards each other,” he said. “We chose our own policy. We decided not to interfere in the crises in Egypt or Syria.”

With regards to the reconstruction of Gaza, the Hamas leader said that Qatar has proposed a “courageous” initiative, noting that it has “dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s” and taken cement and construction materials to start the construction.

He added that Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Gulf States and all Islamic countries have a long history of supporting the Palestinian cause. “We appreciate the efforts of anyone who carries out practical measures to support the Palestinians.” However, he noted that although Norway had held a donor conference and Egypt held a donor conference, little has been done. “Who has done any practical measures?” he asked.

The resistance leader criticised the attempts to distort his movement’s visit to Saudi Arabia, and denied any previous claims regarding the participation of Hamas fighters in the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthis in Yemen.