CNN Face-to-face with top Hamas leader in secret location
CNN’s Cal Perry and Nic Robertson recently spoke with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal. Perry describes the experience:
“DAMASCUS, Syria (CNN) — Sitting in a room with the top Hamas leader — a man Israel would prefer dead — is not an easy feeling, knowing that at any second a missile could shatter the building, killing everyone inside, myself included.
And, of course, it is no surprise why Israel has Khaled Meshaal at the top of its hit list. He is known to have ordered bombings that have targeted Israeli civilians, blowing up cafés, markets and malls across Israel.
CNN senior correspondent Nic Robertson and I recently sat down with Meshaal in a secret Hamas ‘safe house’ in the middle of Damascus. Hamas security guards were all around, their automatic rifles draped over their shoulders. The walls were adorned with the pictures of Hamas members who have carried out suicide bombings that have killed hundreds of Israelis.”
To read the full article, click here
and to see the video, click here.
UPDATE: to see the breaking news interview, click here.
UPDATE: to see all five parts of the interview, click here.
One Comment to “CNN Face-to-face with top Hamas leader in secret location”
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Mr. Cal Perry and Mr. Nic Robertson
I respect your tenacity in pursuing this interview with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal. And I very much respect you both for going into a dangerous location to conduct it.
What I can not understand is why your CNN news report contains no authoritative substance at its heart.
Now I recognize your editor’s note that precedes the CNN report. “In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents (1) share their experiences in covering news, and (2) analyze the stories behind the events. Here, Cal Perry describes speaking with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in a secret location in Damascus, Syria”.
Remember the Wendy’s commercial “Where’s the Beef!”. That is how this report leaves one.
All you talk about is your emotional experiences in covering this story. It reads more like the adventures of Huck Finn then seasoned reporters up for this event.
Case in point: ” Sitting in a room with the top Hamas leader…..knowing that at any second a missile could shatter the building, killing everyone inside, myself included……Hamas security guards were all around, their automatic rifles draped over their shoulders. It was impossible not to look at our surroundings…….This was a safe house where the leader of Hamas avoids assassination attempts……..We sipped coffee uneasily as we waited for Meshaal to emerge for an interview that was more than three years in the making……..Suddenly…….and without warning, the Hamas leader appeared.”
Come on guys, American solders face far more dangerous situations each and every day then the two of you did on this interview and the press hardly ever gives them an ounce of credit for it. Instead they are civilian killers. Your self-serving self-perceived heroics makes one feel a bit repulsed.
The real question in all of this is where is the analysis of the story behind that event?
Case in point and as you your yourself said, ”Why he agreed to talk to CNN at this moment remains a mystery to me”. If you truly believe that then you don’t understand anything about Hamas.
I am just one research blogger with a overly developed special interest in Hamas, its roots, its history, its support and growth through Yasser Arafat, and other Arab nations right on up through today. The answer is right in front of your faces.
The answer to why he agreed now is within your article itself. Why is it that you admit to not being able to connect the dots? Hamas used you, how long do you want to admit to playing the fool?