Egyptian official: 'Hamas does not have exclusive rights to Palestinian people'

By JPOST.COM STAFF
In an unprecedented attack by a senior Egyptian government official on Hamas, Mustafa el-Faqui, Chairman of the Egyptian Parliament's Foreign Commission said: "Egypt will not be able to tolerate an Islamic entity on its western border," Israel Radio reported Thursday. In a parliament meeting in Cairo Wednesday, El-Faki criticized Hamas for acting as if it had exclusive rights to represent the Palestinian people. He accused Hamas of holding complete responsibility for the failure of unifying the Palestinian people and of violating an agreement regarding the Rafiah crossing. El-Faqui added that he was not opposed to Hamas but that it was important to maintain Palestinian legitimacy and abide by Arab League decisions.