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Hamas rejects closure of offices in Damascus

06 November 2012 19:34 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A Hamas official on Tuesday rejected the closure of the Palestinian Islamic movement’s offices in Syria, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"We emphasize the neutrality of our position regarding the Syrian crisis," said Mahmoud Zahar, a Gaza-based Hamas official.

On Monday, sources told Xinhua the Syrian authorities sealed all Hamas’ offices in Damascus and the house of Khaled Mashaal, chief of Hamas politburo.

"Most importantly, we need all parties to preserve the Palestinian people in Syria as guests and to keep them away from the internal Syrian crisis," Zahar said, referring to the tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees in Syria.

The relation between Hamas and Syria fizzled after Ismail Haneya, Hamas prime minister in Gaza, declared his support to the Syrian people protesting against President Bashar al-Assad.

Last month, the official media of Syria condemned Mashaal, who had been hosted by Damascus since his expulsion from Jordan in 1999, over his participation in a conference over the Syrian crisis, hosted in Turkey, a country that hosts the Syrian opposition and calls for al-Assad to step down.