STRASBOURG, April 10 (RIA Novosti) - A meeting of the PACE subcommittee on the Middle East scheduled for Monday has been postponed due to the absence of the Palestinian delegation who were denied visas, a senior Russian lawmaker said.
"It is useless to discuss the situation in Palestine...without the Palestinian representatives," said Mikhail Margelov, head of the upper house's international affairs committee and rapporteur on the Middle East for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
Margelov said PACE regretted that the delegation had been unable to attend due to the position of a number of EU members.
"European countries did not grant visas to members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, who were elected in a democratic way," he said earlier in the day.
Margelov said Russia intended to raise the issue of inviting radical Islamic movement Hamas to a PACE session in June.
He said Mahmoud Al-Ramahi, secretary general of the Palestinian Legislative Council, had sent a letter to Secretary General of the Council of Europe Mateo Sorinas Balfego, expressing his hope that Palestinians would be able to attend other PACE meetings.
A trilateral meeting involving Russia, Palestinian representatives and Israel had been scheduled for PACE's spring session April 10-12.
Margelov said some members of the PACE bureau were strongly opposed to inviting Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by many Western countries but not by Russia.
"We are inviting not Hamas but deputies of the Palestinian parliament who were elected legally in compliance with democratic procedures," Margelov said. "We have to receive them whether we like them or mot."
The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has stalled since Hamas came to power after January 25 parliamentary elections in the Palestinian autonomy. Hamas has come under intense international pressure to meet previous Palestinian leaders' agreements with Israel and resume the political process under the Road Map peace plan.
