Mahmoud Zahar AKA Mahmoud al-Zahar Born: 1945, Gaza Nationality: Palestine Executive summary: Hamas co-founder, spokesman A doctor by trade, Mahmoud al-Zahar helped create the Islamic University in Gaza in 1978. Advisor to the Palestinian health minister. He was one of the founding members of Hamas in 1987, becoming its first press spokesman. Survived an Israeli assassination attempt on 10-Sep-2003, in which Israeli F-16s dropped a several-ton bomb on his house in Rimal, in Gaza City, killing his son Khaled and his bodyguard and injuring al-Zahar, his wife, and one of their daughters.
A seven-member CNI-led observer mission to the Palestinian Legislative Council elections on January 25th, 2006 including Ambassadors Edward Peck and Robert Keeley, included stays in all five neighboring countries: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. The delegation met with top government officials and leading opposition figures in Palestine and neighboring Arab countries to assess the accelerated development of democratic institutions and their impact on U.S. long-term interests in the region.
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