Hamas PM starts his first Arab tour in 4years

Deposed Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haneya has started on Sunday his first trip to a number of Arab and Islamic states since his Islamic party violently seized Gaza four years ago. Haneya will visit Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Tunisia and Turkey. He has left for the tour through the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. "His visit will focus on a number of issues including Gaza reconstruction, investment and unemployment," said Haneya's advisor, Yossif Rezka. Haneya was ousted by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after his Islamic Hamas party defeated the latter's forces and took control of Gaza violently in June 2007. Since then, Haneya has been the prime minister of Hamas government which rules Gaza, while Abbas has his own administration that runs the West Bank. Meanwhile, Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed told Xinhua that Haneya will be received as a Hamas leader not as a prime minister. "The countries Haneya is going to visit respect their stances... there is no country in the world that considers Gaza an independent entity," he said. Al-Ahmed's statements were rejected by Hamas official Sahah al- Bardawil who insisted that Haneya was invited by leaders of those countries as prime minister.