Khaled Mashal

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Khaled Mashal, also known as Khaled Mashaal (Arabic: خالد مشعل) (b. 1956) is a leader of Hamas. He has been described alternately as the "political leader" of the group and the leader of Hamas's Syrian branch. He currently resides in Damascus and is personally negotating a prisoner exchange deal that would free captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. [1] Meshal has personally confirmed that Gilad is alive. [2]

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[edit] Early life and Hamas

Khaled Mashal was born in the Silwad neighborhood of Ramallah[1], then ruled by Jordan. His family moved to Kuwait and lived there until 1991 Gulf War. Mashal holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Kuwait University. While at the University, he was an Islamist Palestinian leader, challenging the dominance of Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization on the campus. Mashal participated in the foundation of the Islamic Haqq Bloc, which competed with Fatah on leading the General Union for the Palestinian Students in Kuwait.

When Iraq invaded Kuwait, Mashal moved to Jordan and began his work with Hamas as one of its founders. He has been a member of the Hamas Political Bureau since its inception and became its chairman in 1996. He married in 1981 and has seven children.

[edit] Assassination attempt

On September 25, 1997 Mashal was the target of an assassination attempt carried out by the Israeli Mossad under orders from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his security cabinet. Ten Mossad agents carrying Canadian passports entered Jordan, where Mashal was living, and injected him with a toxic substance. At the time of the assassination attempt Mashal was considered Hamas' Jordanian branch chief.

Jordanian authorities discovered the assassination attempt and arrested two Mossad agents who had engaged in the attempt. Jordan's King Hussein then demanded that Benjamin Netanyahu turn over the poison antidote, and at first Netanyahu refused. As the incident began to grow in political significance, however, American President Bill Clinton intervened and forced Netanyahu to turn over the antidote. [2]

Jordanian authorities later released the Mossad agents in exchange for the release of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder and "spiritual leader" of Hamas who was serving a life sentence in an Israeli prison.

In August 1999, probably in reaction to pressure from the Clinton Administration, Jordanian police issued an arrest warrant for Mashal in advance of a visit to the country by then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. [3]

[edit] Representing Hamas internationally

In October 2002, Mashal is believed to have met with then-Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during the World Assembly of Muslim Youth in Riyadh. The outcome of that meeting is unknown. According to Haaretz, supposed Hamas documents discovered by Israeli security forces described the meeting as "excellent". [4] Mashal was named the most senior figure in Hamas after the assassination of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

Mashal was a vocal critic of former Palestinian Authority President, Chairman Yasser Arafat, often refusing to follow directives issued by the PA regarding ceasefires with Israel. Mashal is considered a key force behind this policy, along with the late Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. He attended the funeral of Yasser Arafat in Cairo, alongside the Saudi Royal family, in Cairo, Egypt, on November 12, 2004. On 9 December 2005, Mashal addressed a crowd in Damascus, Syria on the informal truce with the government of Israel that would end at the end of the year, stating that, "We will not enter a new truce and our people are preparing for a new round of conflict."

Speaking from Damascus, on 29 January 2006, after the shock Hamas victory in the legislative council elections Meshaal stated that Hamas had no plans to disarm. He said that Hamas was ready to "unify the weapons of Palestinian factions, with Palestinian consensus, and form an army like any independent state... an army that protects our people against aggression".

In March 2006, Mashal met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for political talks. Russia called on Hamas to transform itself into a purely political organisation, recognise Israel's right to exist, and abide by prior peace accords with Israel. Meshal refused to compromise on the Hamas platform demanding the destruction of Israel.

On July 10, 2006, Mashal spoke authoritatively concerning the Israeli prisoner Gilad Shalit, stating Shalit was a prisoner of war and demanded a prisoner swap. [5]

On July 31, 2006, Mashal warned, in a Reuter interview, Palestinians everywhere against attempts to separate the Lebanese and Palestinian issues. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_19393.shtml.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Khalid Mashal (JVL)
  2. ^ CNN
  3. ^ BBC
  4. ^ Haaretz
  5. ^ Y!News

[edit] External links

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