Russia has invited Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal to Moscow despite the fact that it is one of the world’s largest terror organizations.
The Hamas terror organization says its exiled leader was invited to visit Moscow during a meeting with Russia’s foreign minister.
Hamas said in a statement that its top leader, Khaled Mashaal, who is based in Doha, Qatar, met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Qatari capital on Monday.
Mashaal accepted the invitation, according to the statement, but no date was set.
Moscow confirmed the meeting and the invitation.
Unlike other members of the so-called Quartet of Mideast mediators, Russia has not shunned Hamas, despite it being categorized as a terror organization by many countries. The UN, the European Union (EU) and the US have banned contact with the Islamic terror group that rules Gaza until it renounces violence, recognizes Israel and accepts previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.
Mashaal has met Lavrov twice before in Russia, in 2007 and 2010.
By: AP and United with Israel Staff