Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood visited the Gaza Strip for the first time on
Saturday, signaling a shift in Cairo's posture toward the Palestinian group since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak.
A delegation
led by deputy Brotherhood chief Goma Amin met Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in celebration of the prisoner swap between
Hamas and Israel for the releae of Gilad Schalit brokered by Egypt last week.
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came to participate in the joy at the release of brothers. We are proud
of them," Amin told reporters. "Resistance proved itself."
While in power, Mubarak had tried to mediate between Hamas and Fatah.
"This is the first delegation from the Brotherhood to visit Gaza," said
Mahmoud Ghozlan, a spokesman for the group in Cairo. "It wasn't allowed
before to go there at all."
Ties between Egypt and Israel have frayed since the Egyptian revolution
though Cairo's interim military rulers say the peace agreement remains solid.