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Ex-president Carter urges Obama to remove Hamas from U.S. terror list
By Avi Issacharoff, Jack Khoury and Ofri Ilani

Hamas will be ready to work with the American administration, a senior advisor to Gaza prime minister Ismail Haniyeh told Haaretz as Haniyeh held a joint conference with former US President Jimmy Carter yesterday.

"We are ready to do anything that will lead to stability and the establishment of a Palestinian state. We work positively with the American administration. It is a more serious administration than its predecessor, a more realistic one, and one more sensitive to Palestinian pain," the advisor, Ahmed Yussef, said.
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Speaking at the press conference with Carter, Haniyeh said he would support any plan to establish a sovereign Palestinian state in the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its sovereign capital. Haniyeh stressed that his government is working to preserve the cease-fire and keep the border crossings open.

Yussef noted that there was nothing new to Hamas agreeing to a state under such terms. However, when asked whether Hamas now supports a two-state solution, he replied, "we didn't say that."

He explained that "there is no reason not to set up a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders, but that doesn't mean that we will give up our rights in the areas of 1948, such as the right of refugees to return to their homes."

Former president Carter, speaking to a Fox News team, called on the new American administration to remove Hamas from its list of terrorist organizations. He also told journalists that Israel must stop treating Palestinians like animals, and called upon Israel to end its siege of the Gaza Strip.

Prior to the press conference, Carter was given a tour of areas damaged by Israeli bombing during Operation Cast Lead. He said he felt the United States had some responsibility for the damage, because some of the weapons used were made in the U.S. He also called for an end to Qassam rocket attacks on Israel, and for Hamas to acknowledge Israel and past agreements.

Later in the day Carter met with Noam Shalit, father of captive soldier Gilad Shalit. Carter told Shalit Snr. that he was under the impression Gilad was "alive and in good health," although he had not seen the soldier. He said he delivered a letter written by Shalit's family to the Hamas leaders. Haniyeh told journalists at the press conference that Hamas welcomed "any negotiations that would bring the Shalit matter to a close."

Noam Shalit said after the meeting that he had heard "nothing new" about his son. Gilad's mother, Aviva Shalit, said she hoped the letter will reach her son and the family will receive some kind of life signal from him in return.

Carter's Gaza visit was marred by what Palestinian sources claimed was an assassination attempt narrowly prevented by Hamas. According to the sources, a boy saw militants place roadside mines on the route on which Carter's convoy was due to travel. He called Hamas police, which removed the bombs. The Palestinian source said the militants were from an extremist group linked to Al Qaeda.

A spokesperson for the local interior ministry, however, denied there had been an assassination attempt. He said the security forces checked the area, as they have done on previous occasions, ahead of Carter's convoy. Members of Carter's staff told Haaretz they had been briefed "in the same vein" as the information published in the media, but were unable to confirm the claims.
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