Obama Aide Resigns After Report Reveals He Met With Hamas

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - A Middle East adviser for Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has resigned after it was reported that he had met with Hamas.

Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt is quoted by the Chicago Sun Times as saying over the weekend that Rob Malley, an analyst with the International Crisis Group, a non-profit organization, had resigned from the campaign because of a Times of London article about Malley's meeting with Hamas, according to the Chicago Sun Times.

"I decided based on the fact that this was becoming a distraction that it was best that I remove myself from any association with the campaign," Malley told NBC. "My job with the International Crisis Group is to meet with all sorts of savory and unsavory people and report on what they say. I've never denied whom I meet with; that's what I do."

Malley's meeting with Hamas, however legitimate the reason, brings back a particularly sensitive issue for Obama. The Illinois senator has had to defend himself from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who has said the terrorist group favored Obama as president.

"I think it's very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president of the United States. I think that people should understand that I will be Hamas's worst nightmare... If Senator Obama is favored by Hamas, I think people can make judgments accordingly," McCain said last month, according to the Boston Globe.

McCain was referring to statements by Hamas political adviser Ahmed Yousef last month, saying, "We don't mind -- actually we like Mr. Obama. We hope he will (win) the election and I do believe he is like John Kennedy, great man with great principle, and he has a vision to change America to make it in a position to lead the world community but not with domination and arrogance."