Carter defies Israel and meets Hamas ex-minister

By Mohammed Assadi

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter met an ex-minister in Hamas's government on Tuesday, defying Israeli leaders who shunned the Nobel Peace Prize laureate over his contacts with the Islamist movement.

Carter said he had sought to visit the Gaza Strip, which Hamas seized in June after routing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction. He said the request was turned down, but he did not point the finger at Israel.

A member of Carter's delegation in the West Bank city of Ramallah said Israel rejected the request.

All of the border crossings between Israel and Gaza are controlled by the Jewish state. Egyptian forces are stationed at Gaza's southern border, which is largely closed.

"I haven't been able to get permission to go into Gaza. I would like to. I asked for permission. But I was turned down. But maybe we can find a way to circumvent that. I don't know yet," Carter said.

The former U.S. leader has angered the Israeli government over plans to meet Hamas' top leader, Khaled Meshaal, in Syria, and for describing Israeli policy in the occupied Palestinian territories as "a system of apartheid" in a 2006 book.

Despite heavy Israeli criticism since his arrival on Sunday, Carter met Naser al-Shaer, who served as deputy prime minister in the Hamas-led government formed by the Islamist group after it won parliamentary elections in 2006.

Shaer, who has frequently met Abbas since Hamas's takeover of Gaza, is an Islamist with close ties to Hamas.