Jerusalem; A British envoy will meet Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas on Thursday to discuss efforts to free an abducted journalist, a British diplomat said, despite a European Union boycott of the group.
BBC correspondent Alan Johnston was abducted from his car on March 12, and has been held captive longer than any of the several foreign journalists seized in the
Gaza Strip.
There has been no public word on his fate despite Palestinian government pledges to find him.
Consul-General Richard Makepeace's talks with Haniyeh will be the first meeting between a representative of the British government and a Hamas member of the new Palestinian unity government.
But a British diplomat said they would not represent a departure from the EU's policy of shunning Hamas, which it considers a terrorist group unless Hamas recognises Israel, renounces violence and accepts existing interim peace deals.
"This is just to discuss the kidnapping," he said.
A senior Israeli official said the meeting undermined US and Israeli efforts to isolate the Islamist group, and could send the message to Hamas that it can gain ground diplomatically if foreigners are abducted.
"This undermines our policy and opens the door to further abductions," said the official, who declined to be named.
Israel wants Western powers to maintain their boycott of the Hamas-led unity government.
But the United States, breaking with Israel, has said it will hold unofficial contacts with non-Hamas ministers. Britain and some other European countries have taken a similar line.
Western diplomats said there had been an understanding since Hamas came to power in March 2006 that their no-contact policies could be relaxed in extreme cases such as kidnappings.
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