Mashaal re-elected as Hamas leader

Khaled Mashal is reelected leader of Hamas' political bureau.

Hamas' political leader, Khaled Mashaal, has been reelected as the leader of its Political Bureau after a series of ballots.

Sources from Hamas, which runs the democratically elected Palestinian government in charge of Gaza Strip, confirmed on Sunday that three leaders from Gaza, Mahmoud Zahhar, Khalil al-Hayya and Nizar Awadallah, have also been elected to the Political Bureau.

Hamas has also confirmed that Muhamad Nazzal, formerly a prominent member of the Political Bureau, was replaced in the election by Osama Hamdan, the Hamas representative in Lebanon.

In Hamas' clandestine internal election process, each local branch of the movement throughout the Middle East elects a local consultative council, which then nominates members of a General Consultative Council, based outside of the Palestine. The Political Bureau is then elected by members of the General Consultative Council.

The previous Political Bureau included: Khaled Mashaal as chairman, Moussa Abu Marzouq as deputy chairman, Imad al-Alami, Izzat ar-Rashiq, Sami Khater, Muhammad Nasser, and Muhammad Nazzal.

Hamas also elected the 25-member Executive Bureau, which is a slightly narrower consultative body for the movement. The Executive Office includes all 15 members of the politburo in addition to chair of the General Consultative Council, his deputy, and the secretary.

The other seven members are elected from the General Consultative Council.

Hamas sources said the movement has finished its internal elections. In the last two months, Hamas elected its local leadership in the Gaza Strip.