Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


                 Hamas Gives Mashaal Another 4 Years as Leader

   The Palestinian militant group Hamas has re-appointed its longtime
   leader Khaled Mashaal to another four-year term after an internal
   election in which he was the only candidate for the post.
   Hamas officials in Cairo said the Islamist group`s governing shura
   council completed the election process Monday. The exiled Mashaal has
   been a senior figure of Hamas since 1996 and became its main leader in
   2004, when Israel assassinated Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and
   his successor Abdelaziz al-Rantissi.
   Fifty-six-year-old Mashaal has been based in Qatar since vacating his
   office in the Syrian capital, Damascus, more than a year ago in protest
   of President Bashar al-Assad`s violent crackdown on an opposition
   uprising.
   After spending decades in exile, Mashaal made his first visit to the
   Gaza Strip in December. Hamas has ruled that territory`s more than 1
   million people since 2007, when its fighters ousted rival forces of
   Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and confined his Western-backed
   administration to parts of the West Bank.
   The rival Palestinian governments in Gaza and the West Bank have become
   increasingly entrenched, despite repeated Arab attempts to encourage
   them to reconcile.
   Hamas has called for Israel`s destruction and replacement with an
   Islamic state in all of historic Palestine. It is labeled a terrorist
   group by Israel and the United States.
   Hamas has several regional allies, including Egypt, Iran, Qatar and
   Turkey. Some of those allies provide it with money and weapons.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/hamas-gives-mashaal-another-4-years-a
   s-leader/1632872.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/hamas-gives-mashaal-another-4-years-as-leader/1632872.html