In a move sure to undermine the security of Israeli - and enhance the stature of a terror leader - Jimmy Carter is apparently planning to meet with terror leader Khaled Meshal later this month. From FOX:Former President Jimmy Carter is reportedly preparing an unprecedented meeting with the leader of Hamas, an organization that the U.S. government considers one of the leading terrorist threats in the world.
The Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayat reported Tuesday that Carter was planning a trip to Syria for mid-April, during which he would meet with Khaled Meshal, the exiled head of the Palestinian terror group Hamas, on April 18.
Deanna Congileo, Carter’s press secretary, confirmed in an e-mail to FOXNews.com that Carter will be in the Mideast in April. Pressed for comment, Congileo did not deny that the former president is considering visiting Meshal.
“President Carter is planning a trip to the Mideast next week; however, we are still confirming details of the trip and will issue a press release by the end of this week,” wrote Congileo. “I cannot confirm any specific meetings at this point in time.”
Meshal, who lives in Syria to avoid being arrested by the Israeli government, leads Hamas from his seat in Damascus, where he is a guest of Bashar al-Assad's regime.
The State Department has designated Hamas a "foreign terrorist organization," and some groups hold Meshal personally responsible for ordering the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack once said of the prospect of meeting with Meshal, "That's not something that we could possibly conceive of."
Some Carter critics called the latest reports typical of the ex-president.
“It’s about par for the course from President Carter, demonstrating a lack of judgment typical of what he does," said John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. "To go to Syria to visit Hamas at this point is just an ill-timed, ill-advised decision on his part."
Khaled Meshal, pictured above (credit: washingtonbureau.typepad.com) is a terror leader who has openly spoken of his desire to kill Israelis. He recently gave an interview to Tim Marshall from Sky News where he discussed his desire for more advanced weapons to be used to kill Israelis. Here a portion of the interview:
INTERVIEWER: You have a military wing sir which act like the military which target your enemy. Don't just fire a rocket into a kindergarten.
KHALED MESHAL: We didn't attack a kindergarten. We have primitive weapons. I ask the international community and the Americans to give us more advanced weapons so we can shoot more accurately.
This killer heads an organization the State Department says is a leading terror threat. Shouldn't that be enough of a clue for the reprehensible Jimmy Carter not to meet with him?
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(Carter photo credit: AP photo/Charles Dharapak)
