The former US president Jimmy Carter.
update
Carter: Hamas will accept Israel's right to live in peace
Carter today said Hamas was prepared to accept Israel's right to "live as a neighbour next door in peace"
Carter was speaking after meeting Khaled Meshal, an influential leader within the militant organisation, in Damascus
Hamas believed any peace agreement negotiated by Abbas would have to be submitted to the Palestinian people in a referendum
"There's no doubt that both the Arab world and Hamas will accept Israel's right to exist in peace within 1967 borders," Carter said
The US and Israel have criticised Carter's decision to meet officials from Hamas, which they consider to be a terrorist group
Olmert, refused to meet him because of his insistence that Israel should talk to Hamas
"The problem is that Israel and the United States refuse to meet with someone who must be involved."
said Hamas had promised to allow a captured Israeli soldier to send a letter to his parents
clipped from: www.guardian.co.uk