Hamas would accept peace pact, Carter says

JERUSALEM, April 21 (UPI) -- Hamas would accept peace with Israel if the Palestinians approved an Israeli-Palestinian agreement, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Monday.

"If President (Mahmoud) Abbas of the Palestinians and Prime Minister (Ehud) Olmert reach an agreement for peace, and if it is submitted to the Palestinians and the Palestinians approve it... Hamas will accept it," Carter told CNN while in Jerusalem.

Carter's observation came after meetings Friday and Saturday in Damascus, Syria, with exiled militant Hamas leader Khalid Meshaal. The meetings drew condemnations from the United States and Israel for conducting diplomacy with a group they consider a terrorist organization. Many Israeli officials refused to meet with Carter during his trip.

When his visit began last week, Carter said he did not travel to the Middle East to broker a peace agreement, but to communicate between "people that won't communicate with each other."