RIYADH, 12 March 2006 — Hamas Politburo chief Khaled Meshaal said yesterday that the reason for his visit to the Kingdom was to seek political and financial support from the Saudi government in the wake of many countries vowing to halt their financial support to the Palestinian government.
In an interview with Arab News, Meshaal said the reason for his visit was to discuss with the Saudi leadership the new developments in the Palestinian arena after the victory of Hamas in the Palestinian elections.
“We are keen on holding talks with the Saudi leadership. We also seek its financial support — which we have been accustomed to — to the Palestinian people in these so difficult times,” he said.
Meshaal denied media reports that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had rejected the proposed Hamas government program. “Abu Mazen himself denied this news. Furthermore, officials with the group said they did not receive any information of this sort from Abu Mazen. This is distorted news leaked out by people who want to ruin relations with the former government,” he said.
Meshaal said US opposition to Hamas’ electoral victory ran against the democratic values advocated by the country. “Our government came as a natural result from the ballots collected from election posts in Palestinian areas. It was a fair and democratic process that the entire world took notice of. The US administration should respect the free will of the Palestinian people,” he said.
Meshaal also spoke about his talks with Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal. “We discussed political views that concern the new government. We also briefed him on our Arab and Islamic tour plans,” he said. On concluding their visit to the Kingdom, the Hamas delegation will move on to Kuwait, Bahrain and Malaysia.
Meshaal said that the “numbers and figures have still not been discussed yet” in terms of financial assistance form the Kingdom.
Regarding the EU stance to hold back funds as long as Hamas did not recognize Israel, Meshaal said the group should respect the will of the Palestinian people.
