Meshaal Denies Departure From Syria

Source: Alalam.ir, 7-9-2008
DAMASCUS--The head of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas' political bureau in Damascus has dismissed reports that the political office of Hamas is being relocated from the Syrian capital to Sudan.
Speaking at a ceremony in Damascus, Khaled Meshaal said Saturday that Syrian authorities have not demanded for him to leave the country.
Meshaal made the remark after conflicting reports that the Hamas leader has been asked to leave Damascus for Sudan as the new headquarters of the resistance movement.
The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai has said in a report that Meshaal had decided to relocate to Khartoum following the progress made in the indirect talks between Syria and the "Israeli" regime.
Meshaal, the chief of Hamas political bureau since March 2003, as well as some leaders of the Palestinian Islamic movement have been based in Syria for several years after they were expelled from Lebanon and Jordan.
Last May, the "Israeli" regime and Syria resumed indirect talks brokered by Turkey after an eight-year freeze. Syria was asked by "Israel" to sever ties with Hamas and Lebanon's Hizbullah movement.
The reports prompted Mahjoub Fadl, a spokesman for Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir to say there was "no information" about reports suggesting that Meshaal had moved to Sudan.
Meshaal survived an assassination attempt in the Jordanian capital in 1997 by Zionist intelligence agents.