Cairo - Egypt's president Mohammed Morsi and Hamas'
leader in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniya, on Thursday examined easing
restrictions on residents of the Palestinian enclave, Morsi's
spokesperson said.
Haniya's visit to Cairo, the second by a
top-ranking Hamas official since the Islamist Morsi's election last
month, came days after Palestinian officials said Egypt had eased visa
requirements for Gazans under 40.
Morsi and Haniya discussed
"solutions relating to lifting the siege and alleviating the suffering
of Gazans," said Morsi spokesperson Yassir Ali in comments published by
the official MENA news agency.
Haniya made no statement after the talks.
Last
week, he had hailed the meeting as a "fruit of the revolution" that
overthrew Morsi's predecessor Hosni Mubarak early last year. Hamas is an
offshoot of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.
Hamas, which has
controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 after routing president Mahmud
Abbas's Fatah from the territory neighbouring Israel and Egypt, hoped
Morsi's election victory would strengthen its position.
Gaza has
been under semi-blockade by Israel and Egypt since Hamas took over the
enclave. Mubarak eased the blockade under pressure in 2010, but did not
allow commercial traffic through the Rafah border crossing as Hamas had
hoped.
Morsi met Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal last week,
after saying that he would not favour either of their factions as Egypt
attempts to reconcile them.