Former US president Jimmy Carter Tuesday warmly embraced a leading Hamas figure in the West Bank and laid a wreath at the grave of Yasser Arafat, further antagonizing Israel as he pushed forward with his latest Mideast peace mission. Israel and the West Bank are the first stops on a visit that also is to include Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Shunned by his Israeli hosts and criticized by the White House for his willingness to meet Hamas, Carter has urged that both stop isolating the militant group. “Since Syria and Hamas will have to be involved in a final peace agreement, they have to be involved in discussions that lead to final peace,” Carter said Tuesday. At a reception in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Carter hugged Nasser Shaer, a leading Hamas figure, and with a smile and laugh, kissed him on each cheek, a Palestinian security official said. In another break with US policy, Carter placed a wreath Tuesday at Arafat's grave. The Bush administration has snubbed Arafat, the iconic Palestinian leader who died in 2004, blaming him for the breakdown of peace talks seven years ago and the violence that followed. Carter said he requested permission to enter Hamas-ruled Gaza but was turned down. He did not provide details. “I haven't been able to get a permission to go to Gaza. I asked for permission but it was turned down,” Carter told reporters. __
