Egyptian president to receive Hamas delegation on Thursday

Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi is to meet a senior level Hamas delegation led by its leader Khaled Mishaal in Cairo on Thursday, deputy political bureau chairman of Hamas Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouk said on Wednesday.

He told the PIC that the Hamas delegation would congratulate Morsi on his election victory, adding that no Palestinian issues would be tackled during the meeting. He did not rule out, however, that such issues might come up during the discussion.

Abu Marzouk said that the visit by PA chief Mahmoud Abbas to Cairo for a meeting with Morsi on the same date of Mishaal’s arrival in Cairo was arranged by the Egyptian presidency.

He said that reports saying that Morsi would relay Abbas’s opinions to the Hamas delegation were not true, explaining that both parties were not in a state of animosity.

The Hamas leader did not rule out a meeting between Mishaal and Abbas in Cairo to iron out differences over reconciliation issues.