Mashal hails Moscow visit as end of isolation

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Hamas' leader, Khale Mashal, hailed his Moscow talks as an end to the group's international isolation and said Russia's position in negotiations differed from that of the United States and other Western nations, according to an interview published Monday. Mashaal told the daily Vremya Novostei that "Moscow became the place where we opened the door to the entire global community. "It broke the blockade which Israel and the United States have been trying to impose on us," Mashaal said. He also said, "Russia's position is completely unlike that of the West" and praised Russian officials for understanding Hamas' stance. "We have never found understanding with the Americans," Mashaal told Vremya Novostei. "They aren't ready to listen to opinions which contradict theirs. And at the Russian Foreign Ministry we felt that we were being understood."