GAZA CITY: Veteran Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal was elected for a new term as head of the Palestinian Islamist movement, a party official said yesterday.
There had been speculation that Meshaal, who is based in exile, would be forced aside by the movement’s powerful leaders in the Gaza Strip, which it has controlled since 2007. Meshaal himself had said last year that he would not seek a new term.
But a Hamas official said that the party’s governing Shura Council re-elected him for another four years at a meeting in Cairo late yesterday. “The leaders of Hamas chose Meshaal,” the high-ranking official said from the Egyptian capital, requesting anonymity.
Another Hamas official said: “The elections take place in total secrecy, but it’s widely known that Meshaal’s term will be renewed.”
Hamas officials were in Cairo on Sunday and yesterday for the vote, and to discuss with Egyptian leaders reconciliation with the rival Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Meshaal will be aided by Gaza’s Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah and the movement’s number two Mussa Abu Marzuq, who would have been favoured for leadership had Meshaal not run for another term. AFP
