Hamas Ready to Accept Israel As Neighbor - Carter

Ex-U.S. president Jimmy Carter said on Monday the radical Islamist group Hamas was ready to live in peace with Israel if an agreement was supported by a Palestinian referendum.

Carter, wildly criticized both by U.S. President George W. Bush and Israel`s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for meeting with Hamas leaders, which controls the Gaza Strip and is considered a terrorist organization both by the U.S. and Israel, said: "The problem is not that I met with Hamas in Syria. The problem is that Israel and the United States refuse to meet with someone who must be involved".

Carter said after the meeting with leaders from the Islamic movement, which included Hamas` Khaled Meshaal, in Syria: "They said they would accept a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders if approved by Palestinians ... even though Hamas might disagree with some terms of the agreement."

Carter, who received the Nobel peace prize in 2002, also said: "Hamas will not undermine [Palestinian President Mahmoud] Abbas`s efforts to negotiate an agreement and Hamas will accept an agreement if the Palestinians support it in a free vote."

Last November`s ...