( CNN ) -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter met Sunday in Damascus , Syria , with Khaled Meshaal , the exiled leader of Hamas ' political wing , a Hamas official said . Syrian President Bashar al-Assad , left , walks with Jimmy Carter north of Damascus on Sunday , December 14 . The five-hour meeting ended late Sunday and covered several issues , including Cpl . Gilad Shalit -- an Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas since June 2006 , the official said . Carter previously met with Meshaal in April . In that meeting , the Hamas leader promised Carter that the group would allow Shalit to send a message to his parents , Noam and Aviva . Carter also asked Hamas to release Shalit , Meshaal said after the former president 's visit , but the request was rejected . Watch report on Carter 's meeting » . Hamas said Sunday it will soon release a statement about the latest meeting between Carter and Meshaal . Carter 's series of meetings with top Hamas officials in April garnered condemnation from the U.S. and Israeli governments . They criticized him for engaging in diplomacy with a group that both governments consider a terrorist organization . How the incoming Obama administration will receive Carter 's meetings with Hamas remains to be seen . During his visit in Syria , Carter also visited the Saint Taqla convent in the city of Maalula , north of Damascus , with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad . CNN 's Cal Perry contributed to this report in Beirut , Lebanon .
Carter says three - day meeting ends late Sunday in Damascus , Syria 's capital . Carter 's demand for release of Israeli solider captured in 2006 is rejected . However , Israeli media criticized previous meetings between Carter , Hamas .