Khaled Mashaal

     The Hamas political chief Khaled Mashaal, says rockets attacks on Israel this week as "self defense" and claimed they were justified, while the camp of the Palestinian Authority chairman urged the preservation of the five month-long truce. The comments came as Hamas's Khaled Mashaal and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas were meeting for a second day in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. Their talks, which started Friday, were the first since their blocs in March formed a coalition government. The meetings followed an escalation in Palestinian-Israeli tensions, with a barrage of rockets fired by Hamas earlier in the week. Egyptian officials were concerned the attacks could sabotage their mediation efforts.(19,53)