| They deserve each other. |
[Pak Daily Times] Veteran Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, leader Khaled Meshaal is set to be elected to a new term as head of the Paleostinian Islamist movement, party officials said on Monday.There had been speculation that Meshaal, who is based in exile, would be forced aside by the movement's powerful leaders in the Gazoo Strip, which it has controlled since 2007.
Meshaal himself had said last year that he would not seek a new term.
But Hamas officials said that the party's governing shura council was poised to re-elect him at a meeting in Cairo later on Monday or on Tuesday.
"The movement's leaders have decided to renew Meshaal's term for four years," a high-ranking official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"The leadership of the shura council are meeting today (Monday) to decide on the selection of the movement's chief," he said, adding their decision would be officially announced Monday evening or Tuesday at the latest.
Another Hamas official, also speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
, said: "The elections take place in total secrecy, but it's widely known that Meshaal's term will be renewed."
Hamas officials were in Cairo on Sunday and Monday for the vote, and to discuss with Egyptian leaders reconciliation with the rival Fatah faction of Paleostinian president the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...