Hamas leader Meshaal arrives in Moscow for talks

Moscow, Feb 26 (UNI) Head of the politburo of the Palestinian Islamic group 'Hamas', Khaled Meshaal arrived here today to hold talks with the Russian officials on the recently-crafted Makkah accord, designed to settle inter-Palestinian problems, and prospects of lifting the Israeli blockade.

''We are in Russia to discuss the results of the agreement on the formation of a national unity government in Palestine, which was recently reached in Mecca,'' Meshaal told newspersons on his arrival in the Russian capital.

He said, ''We lay weight on Russia's position about lifting of the economic blockade on Palestine.'' Accusing Israel of delaying direct negotiations in order to to create a Palestinian state, Meshaal said ''Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas recently met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, but the meeting produced no results. Olmert has nothing new to propose.'' Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry said during talks with the Hamas delegation, Russia will ''continue its efforts to facilitate the work of restoring stability in the Palestinian territories and resolve inter-Palestinian disagreements in the context of the Mecca agremment and with due account of the Quartet-proposed criteria''.

UNI