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Egypt’s president meets Hamas leader

27 July 2012 22:12 (UTC +04:00)

Baku_APA. Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi met for the first time with Gaza premier Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, an offshoot of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement, APA reports quoting news.yahoo.com website.

Egypt’s state official news agency quoted Morsi’s spokesman Yasser Ali late Thursday as saying that the two discussed "solutions to lift the siege" on the Gaza Strip, as well efforts toward reconciliation between Hamas and its rival, western-backed Fatah.

This is the first meeting between Morsi and Haniyeh since Morsi assumed his post on June 30.

The visit comes a week after Morsi held meetings with Hamas political chief Khaled Mashaal and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

It also comes days after Egyptian authorities ordered freer temporary entry into the country for Palestinians, easing long-imposed travel restrictions that hit Gazans in particular.