A senior leader of Hamas rejected Monday comments accusing the movement of "selling out the Palestinians to the Jews" by signing a power-sharing deal with Fatah. Khalil Abu Laila told reporters in Gaza that Ayman al-Zawahiri, the deputy of Osmaa bin Laden, "made many mistakes" when he slammed Hamas and the Mecca agreement signed last month.
"Hamas did not give up Palestine and when we signed the Mecca deal we aimed at saving the Palestinian blood," Abu Laila conveyed, according to DPA. "'Hamas has been in office for a year but has maintained the Palestinian principles," Abu Laila insisted.
In a video aired Sunday on the Qatar-based al- Jazeera TV, al-Zawahiri said Hamas has "given Palestine to the Jews" in order to remain in power. "Hamas has joined the surrender train of (Anwar) Sadat," the Egyptian president assassinated in 1981 after signing a 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
"Hamas has sold out so it can keep a hold of a third of government," Zawahiri said. "But what government? A government that doesn't even have the right to enter or leave (the Palestinian territories) without Israeli permission," he added.
Zawahiri also lashed out at Saudi Arabia, which hosted Hamas-Fatah summit, and accused the kingdom of being America's deputies in the Middle East.
