Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Khalid Meshaal, an exiled leader of Hamas, and his deputy, Moussa Abu Marzouk met again on Saturday morning. Carter, the man who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, went to Syria to talk with leaders of the militant group Hamas and the unusual visit was considered a study mission and a part of U.S.'s efforts to “support peace, democracy, and human rights” in the Middle East.

Although the U.S. government, Israel and the European Union called Hamas a “terrorist organization” responsible for suicide bombings that have killed hundreds of people, and have expressed concern over the meeting, they stood at the same table and talked for more than four hours on Friday, April 18. Carter also met with Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, and he intends to visit Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

“Political isolation by the American administration has begun to crumble,” Mohamed Nazzal, one of the most important figures of the organization, told the Associated Press after the meeting. He also said that they discussed a possible prisoner exchange with Israel. Two more capital issues of the meeting were Israel's prolonged military assault and blockade imposed on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, and the release of an Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured by Palestinian militants in 2006, the AP reported.

In January 2006, Hamas won more than a half of the seats in the chamber in the Palestinian parliamentary elections. Those who support Hamas consider it an organization which defends Palestinians from the Israeli occupation of their territories. But the internal conflicts between Hamas and Fatah, the other party, caused the death of hundreds of Palestinians. After winning the elections, Hamas leaders announced they are ready to give up suicide attacks in return for Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories, which include the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.