Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal returned to Damascus Saturday after visiting Khartoum, the last leg of his Hamas "victory tour" across the Middle East aimed at shoring up political and diplomatic ties between Hamas and regional powers in the aftermath of Israel's offensive on Gaza. Meshaal was in Khartoum to meet with senior Sudanese officials, following visits to the Doha Summit in Qatar and Tehran last week, as part of a push to reinforce regional support for Hamas after the Israeli offensive, which Hamas said resulted in diplomatic gains for the group.
Sudan hosts Meshaal
"Meshaal is trying to get hosted by major capitals in the region. He knows he cannot be hosted in Cairo or other 'moderate' countries in the region," Imad Gad, political analyst and editor of Mukhtarat Israeliya told AlArabiya.net.
Analysts see Meshaal's tour as an attempt to find a new mediator for the Palestinian cause instead of Egypt, which represented Hamas diplomatically and politically in negotiations with Israel. "Sudan is backing Hamas more than Fatah, so the Sudanese regime is receiving Meshaal who is trying to visit an Arab capital other than Cairo, since Egypt cannot receive him," said Gad.
"Meshaal and his political bureau are trying to find an alternative mediator other than Egypt," he explained , adding that the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip often disagrees with Meshaal's political bureau in Damascus
"The leadership of Hamas in the Gaza Strip wants to cooperate with Egyptian mediation to reach to a ceasefire. At the same time, however, the political bureau in Damascus is trying to find another mediator."
His visit was a follow up to the Qatari summit held in Doha, whose diplomatic aims have signaled regional tensions between Egypt and Saudi Arabia on the one hand and Syria, Sudan and Qatar on the other.