MOSCOW, February 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russia could fill in the vacuum left in the Middle East by the failure of U.S. mediatory policies, a senior official of the radical Palestinian group Hamas said in an interview Friday. Abu Marzuq, the deputy political bureau chief of Hamas, told the Arab satellite television channel Al-Jazeera that the organization's leadership would be happy to visit Moscow after President Vladimir Putin extended an invitation on Thursday.
The official criticized the efforts of the United States in the Middle East and was optimistic about Russia's chances of filling the void that had emerged.
"The failure of U.S. policies in the region has left a vacuum and this vacuum should be filled in by other states," Marzuq said. "We believe that Russia can do this."
"It is clear U.S. policies in the region have failed. [Indications] include both the war in Iraq and the inability of the U.S. to interact with Syria, and now also the Hamas victory in the Palestinian parliamentary election," Marzuq said. "We know the Palestinian issue is the key to all other problems of the Middle East. By taking the initiative on the Palestinian issue, Russia will win in the entire Middle Eastern region."
