January 18, 2012
PREDICTABLE EVOLUTION:
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal to step down from his position: Palestinian Islamist party's political chief will retire at upcoming leadership elections, says group's former representative (Harriet Sherwood, 1/18/12, guardian.co.uk)
Khaled Meshaal, the political chief of Hamas, is to step down from his position when elections for the leadership of the Palestinian Islamist organisation take place in the next few months, according to a senior colleague.Meshaal will retire to allow a fresh leader to steer Hamas towards a new strategy, Mustafa Lidawi, a former representative of Hamas in Lebanon, wrote in an article on an Arab website.Meshaal has been head of Hamas's political bureau since 1996, and has been based in Damascus since the following year.In recent weeks, he has indicated that Hamas should make a strategic turn away from armed struggle to popular non-violent resistance in the wake of the Arab spring revolutions and the success of Islamist parties in elections.At a meeting in November with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to discuss reconciliation between rival factions Fatah and Hamas, Meshaal said he would reposition the organisation away from violent resistance.
Posted by Orrin Judd at January 18, 2012 6:14 AM
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