In an interview with USA TODAY, Carter said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was "mistaken" and "misinformed" about warnings she says her office gave advising him not to meet with Hamas, which the U.S. government has declared a terrorist organization.

"Hamas was not legitimized by my visit," Carter said. "They were legitimized by the fact that their people voted for them to be the ruling party in their parliament."

Where Rice "gets this repetitive claim that I was warned and advised not to go and urged not to go — she's completely mistaken," he said. "I think she's being misinformed. I don't think Condoleezza is deliberately lying, but the statement she's making is false."

Earlier in the day, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said his agency stands by its statements that Carter was urged against meeting with Hamas. "We've been absolutely, 100% consistent in our statements from the beginning," he said. "We stand by those statements."

Ariel Cohen, of the conservative Heritage Foundation, said Carter's trip empowered a terrorist organization. "It was a disastrous idea showing very poor judgment on behalf of former president Carter," he said.

Carter, who brokered a Middle East peace accord during his presidency, called his nine-day trip a "fact-finding mission." He doesn't consider himself "a mediator or negotiator."

He said he spoke for 15 minutes with Rice's deputy. The State Department said Carter spoke with Assistant Secretary of State David Welch.

"He never said anything about 'Don't go to the Mideast. Don't meet with Hamas. Don't meet with Syria.' He never said anything like that," Carter said. "That was the only person in the government with whom I've discussed it."

Asked whether he trusts Hamas, Carter said trust isn't the issue.

"It's a matter of what they've done already and what they've pledged to do. They've gone on record as being amenable to a number of the proposals I've made."

He was quick to add that he doesn't "vouch for them or anything like that. I just report what they say to the general public — and quite often what they say is not known."

Carter, who next week begins promoting his new book, A Remarkable Mother, about his late mother, Lillian Carter, says he thinks she would have approved of his Middle East meetings.

"If I had felt my mother would have disapproved, I would have certainly had second thoughts," he said.

Contributing: Alan Gomez, USA TODAY

Enlarge By Ronen Zvulun, Reuters Former President Jimmy Carter gives a speech in Jerusalem on Monday after talks in Syria and Egypt with Hamas leaders.

ADVERTISEMENT

Iconocast is about learning and teaching without borders; we offer eMarketing, Internet Advertising, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Online Branding, and eMarketing News Services.

Live help by AliveChat

Iconocast Home Page

Contact Iconocast

Iconocast Health Articles

© 2003-07. ICONOCAST is a trademark of iconocast.com.