Palestinian Information Minister Turned Away In Ottawa

Palestinian Information Minister Mu’stafa Barghouti had hoped to meet with Canadian government leaders, but was turned away in Ottawa on Wednesday. Barghouti was to meet with members of opposition parties, but ministers of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government rebuffed Barghouti’s requests for meetings. A spokesman for the foreign minister told the French news agency AFP that, "Our policy towards the Palestinian government has not changed." Barghouti, who is not a member of Hamas, told The Media Line last week, and argued in Canada, that the new government "is not a Hamas government. It represents 96% of the Palestinian people."