Carter postpones Gaza visit 'indefinitely'

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has indefinitely postponed a planned visit to the Gaza Strip that had been due to begin on Thursday, a Palestinian government source has said.

"Carter has postponed his visit, during which he had planned to meet with Hamas leaders," the source told The Anadolu Agency, requesting anonymity.

The source did not give any reason for the delay, which, he said, could take place later.

A Palestinian security source told AA that a delegation that had arrived on Tuesday to prepare for Carter's visit would leave the strip later on Wednesday via the Israeli-controlled Erez border crossing.

Sources told AA earlier this week that Carter was undertaking Saudi-backed mediation efforts between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah.

"Carter recently met with prominent Saudi officials and called for their intervention to achieve reconciliation between the Palestinian factions – a request that was welcomed by Riyadh," a well-informed source told AA.

In 2007, late Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz brokered the first Mecca agreement between Hamas and Fatah, which led to the formation of a short-lived Palestinian unity government.

Months later, this unity government collapsed amid clashes between the two factions, which ended with Hamas overrunning the entire Gaza Strip in mid-2007.

Carter recently visited Qatar where he met with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, who, according to the source, assured the former U.S. president that Hamas was committed to reconciling with Fatah.

A Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Carter visited the Gaza Strip in 2009 where he held several meetings with leading Hamas figures, including group deputy leader Ismail Haniyeh.