Hamas secretly named a successor for its slain leader, Abdel Aziz Rantissi. In a departure from its traditional public profile, Hamas said Sunday its top council had chosen a new leader but would not name him. The group’s leader in Syria, Khaled Meshaal, ordered that the group keep the name of its new leader secret. Analysts said the Islamic terrorist group had decided that a political presence was less important than keeping its leadership alive. But Israeli Army Radio reported Sunday that the new leader was Mahmoud Zahar, who had been Rantissi’s No. 2, according to a report by The Associated Press.
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