Israel's UN ambassador calls Jimmy Carter 'a bigot'

NEW YORK - Israel's ambassador to the United Nations Thursday called former President Jimmy Carter ``a bigot'' for meeting with the leader of the militant Hamas movement in Syria.

Ambassador Dan Gillerman said Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner from Georgia, ``went to the region with soiled hands and came back with bloody hands after shaking the hand of Khaled Mashaal, the leader of Hamas.'' The ambassador was speaking at a luncheon briefing for reporters.

The ambassador's harsh words for Carter came days after the ex-president met with Mashaal for seven hours in Damascus to negotiate a cease-fire with Gaza's Hamas rulers.

Telephone calls by The Associated Press to two Atlanta numbers for Carter were not immediately returned.