Christians Under Attack

The meeting took place just one day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Syria last Wednesday against the recommendations of the White House drew widespread domestic criticism and also sharp praise from some Palestinian terror groups.

Visiting House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer met twice on Thursday with the head of the Muslim Brotherhood's parliamentary bloc, Mohammed Saad el-Katatni. One meeting took place at the Egyptian parliament and the second at the home of the U.S. ambassador to Egypt, Brotherhood spokesman Hamdi Hassan said.

The U.S. Embassy in Cairo confirmed the meeting, but would not disclose what was discussed.

The Brotherhood's Hassan said Hoyer discussed with the group developments in the Middle East, the "Brotherhood's vision" and the status of opposition movements in Egypt.

The Brotherhood seeks the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime and the creation of a region-wide Islamic caliph that would eventually spread around the world. The Hamas terror group, responsible for dozens of suicide bombings in Israel, was founded in 1987 as a military offshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

Although there are some tactical differences between the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas – the Brotherhood says it is committed to a non-violent, reformist approach to Islamic takeover – experts say they are concerned by the current level of cooperation between the two organizations.

Reuven Erlich, director of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at Israel's Center for Special Studies, highlighted recently captured Hamas posters and material from the West Bank and Gaza which list Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna as one of the most important figures to Hamas.

"We found al-Banna's face all over Hamas material. He is an important part of Hamas culture and ideology and is held by them in the highest regard," Erlich told WND.

Palestinian security sources close to Hamas told WND Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood leader Mahdi Akif has been serving as a replacement Hamas spiritual leader ever since Israel assassinated former spiritual leader Ahmed Yassin in March 2004.

"Whenever there is an organizational spiritual issue, Hamas takes it to Akif," said the Palestinian source. "He gave them the blessing to run in the elections and was instrumental in using Islamic tradition to deduce it was OK to join the government. The Brotherhood in essence is helping run Hamas. And Akif is the most important religious personality in the Hamas leadership right now."

Once notorious for assassinations and militant activity, the Brotherhood said it renounced violence in the 1970s and has instead been trying to gain influence in Egypt through running for office and leading social welfare programs.

Analysts say Mubarak considers the Brotherhood a major challenge to his government. It scored very well in the latest Egyptian elections, winning an unprecedented 20 percent of the Parliament and trouncing all other opposition parties in spite of widespread reports of massive election tampering on the part of Mubarak's National Democratic Party.

In previous visits to Egypt, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice refused to meet with the Muslim Brotherhood members, although U.S. policy doesn't bar such meetings.

The Hoyer meeting took place a day after Pelosi became the most senior U.S. official to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad since Syria was widely blamed for assassinating former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005. Until then, the U.S. has largely enforced an isolation of Assad's regime.

Pelosi last week announced at a press conference she "determined that the road to Damascus is the road to peace."

"We came in friendship, hope," she said.

Syria, which signed a military alliance with Iran, openly hosts Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders. Israel says Syria has been allowing large quantities of weapons to be transported from its borders to the Lebanese-based Hezbollah militia, which last summer engaged in a war with the Jewish state. Syria has been accused of supporting the insurgency against U.S. troops in Iraq; and generating unrest in Lebanon.

Pelosi's and Hoyer's visits are the latest reports of Democrats meeting with terror supporting groups.

In December, WND reported a key Hamas official claimed the terror group held meetings in Europe with "important Democrats." He claimed the Democrats applauded Hamas' willingness to accept a long-term cease-fire with the Jewish state in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal to what is known as the pre-1967 borders – meaning an evacuation of the Gaza Strip, West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem.

Stacie Paxton, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, told WND the party was not aware of any meeting.

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