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Pakistani President shakes hands with PM Sharon at UN summit |
| By: Associated Press |
| Published: June 7, 2006 |
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Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar arrived early Wednesday in Pakistan for talks on cooperation between his Hamas-led government and Pakistan, an official said.
The Hamas government is facing crippling international sanctions -- mainly by the United States, Israel and several European nations -- over Hamas's refusal so far to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist.
Zahar, a hard-liner in the Hamas militant group that swept the Palestinian elections in January, is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri during a two-day visit.
Bilateral relations and "how Pakistan can assist the Palestinians" will figure in discussions between the Palestinian minister and the Pakistani officials, said Tasnim Aslam, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Zahar was also likely to hold talks with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf but that meeting has yet to be officially confirmed, another Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said on condition of anonymity because he did not have the authority to make media comments.
Zahar arrived before dawn at an airport in the capital Islamabad where he was received by senior officials from Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Pakistan backs a separate homeland for Palestinians with Jerusalem as its capital and has no diplomatic ties with Israel.
Radical Islamic groups in Pakistan denounce the Jewish state, accusing it of committing atrocities against Palestinians. |
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