Hamas leaders travel to Egypt to meet with Carter

CAIRO (Reuters) - Senior Hamas officials arrived in Egypt on Wednesday for a meeting with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who has been shunned by Israeli leaders over his contacts with the Islamist group.

Hamas official Ayman Taha told Reuters in Gaza that Carter had asked for a meeting with leaders of the group because he "wanted to hear the Hamas vision regarding the situation, and we are interested in clarifying our position".

Hamas leaders Mahmoud al-Zahar and Saeed Seyam entered Egypt via the Rafah border crossing along with four other Hamas officials and headed by road to Cairo, witnesses said. They were escorted at the border by Egyptian security men.

Carter later arrived in Cairo for a two-day visit by plane from Israel as part of a Middle East trip, Egypt's state news agency said. It was not immediately clear when a meeting with Hamas might take place.

Carter's delegation in Israel declined to comment, and no one from his team in Cairo could be reached to confirm plans for a meet.

Speaking at a peace forum in Arab East Jerusalem, Carter said that to have Hamas "completely excluded even from conversations or consultations, I think, is counterproductive". He did not say who he planned to meet in Egypt.

Carter had wanted to visit the Gaza Strip, which is governed by Hamas, but Israel rejected his request. All border crossings between Israel and Gaza are controlled by the Jewish state.

Hamas, which took control of the Gaza Strip by force in June from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, has rejected Western demands to recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept existing Israeli-Palestinian interim peace deals.