'Most serious' division in Hamas' history tests Meshaal's acumen
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - March 5, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM // Once firmly in control of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal no longer appears to be the Palestinian-Islamist group's undisputed leader. Rivals are stridently criticising the 55-year-old and the sweeping changes he has recently tried to engineer within Hamas. Such public dissension had been practically unheard of within the group's tightly regimented ranks. Others, sensing his weakened hand, seem to be not-so-subtlety jockeying for his position.

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Egypt warms to Hamas, but not allies yet
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - March 5, 2012 - 1:00am

CAIRO AND JERUSALEM // When Egypt provided a public platform last month for Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister, it was seen as a more independent nation risking longtime ties with the United States and Israel to please its Islamist friends. To many observers, Mr Haniyeh's speech at Al Azhar University in Cairo, declaring his support for Syrian rebels fighting to topple the regime of Bashar Al Assad, also signalled the break-up of the revolutionary axis stretching from Tehran to Gaza City, and a major shift in the politics of the Middle East.

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What About Palestine?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Egypt Independent
by Ahmad Nagi - (Opinion) March 3, 2012 - 1:00am

A couple of weeks ago, amid the boring and ridiculous drama of the NGO crisis and the possible end of US aid to Egypt, MP Essam al-Erian of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and head of Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee made a bold statemement on the question of aid and peace with Israel. “US economic aid is part of the [Camp David] Accords and if America decided to cut off [aid to Egypt], we will change or cancel the agreement,” said Erian. “Egypt is the first and final decision-maker and no one can pressure it.”

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Hamas rattles the Resistance Axis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) March 3, 2012 - 1:00am

The decision last week by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas to abandon its external headquarters in Damascus and support Syrians demonstrating for the removal of Bashar Assad’s regime is noteworthy on several levels. All of them affirm the vulnerable and changing nature of strategic conditions across the Middle East.

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Holding a mirror to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) March 2, 2012 - 1:00am

The treatment of Israeli prisoners by Palestinians and Hizballah, and correspondingly the treatment of Palestinian prisoners by Israelis, in many ways hold a kind of mirror to the conflict as a whole.

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Hamas Deputy: Political Operations Out of Damascus
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 2, 2012 - 1:00am

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Speaking from Cairo, the deputy head of Hamas' politburo said Thursday that Hamas' offices would remain in Syria despite the relocation of all political and media activities out of Damascus. The violent crackdown on protests by Syria security forces have prompted Hamas to review its headquarters in Syria, and the movement's leaders-in-exile have steadily moved out of the country.

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The imminent rise of Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Emad El Din Adeeb - (Opinion) February 29, 2012 - 1:00am

I recently met with Khaled Mishal, Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau, at a special dinner in Cairo. The conversation was heated and extremely candid on both sides, and there was no agreement between us regarding the publication of its contents. However, I maintain the right to make some remarks that do not violate the rules of our meeting.

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Hamas Signals Break with Iran, But Is That Good for Israel?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time Magazine
by Tony Karon - (Opinion) February 29, 2012 - 1:00am

A popular Washington illusion once held that the right combination of incentives and punishments might “peel off” Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad from Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” but nobody would have predicted that the weak link in Iran’s alliance of radicals would turn out to be the Palestinian Islamists of Hamas.

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Iran angry at Hamas abandoning Al-Assad
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Paula Astatih - February 28, 2012 - 1:00am

Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat –Hamas political bureau deputy chief Moussa Abu Marzook sought to draw a line under the speculation regarding Hamas’s position in Syria, confirming that the Palestinian movement has left Syria because it respects “the will of the people” and rejects the “security solution” being enacted by the al-Assad regime.

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Interview: Hamas, Fatah agree to give more time to form unity gov't: Haneya
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
(Interview) February 28, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Ismail Haneya, head of the deposed government of Islamic Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, said in a special interview with Xinhua on Monday that Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party have agreed to give more time to form the new transitional unity government. At his office in Gaza City, Haneya told Xinhua that leaders of Fatah and Hamas movements had bilaterally agreed in Cairo to give the consultations on forming the new unity government some more time until the two sides come up with a final decision.

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