Sporting a crisp, grey pinstripe suit and carefully trimmed mustache, there are no remaining signs of the months Nasser al-Shaer spent last year in an Israeli prison.

The dignified Islamic law professor and former deputy prime minister of the Palestinian Authority swore last summer in an Israeli court that he was not a member of Hamas, earning his release. Unceremoniously removed from government when the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, kicked the Islamist faction out a year ago, he now spends most of his days teaching at Nablus's An-Najah University and writing legal treatises.

But Mr. al-Shaer, who is still publicly linked to the Islamist group, returned to the public eye earlier this month with a heavily publicized meeting with former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, as the closest thing Hamas has to a representative in the West Bank and a voice for the pragmatic political side of the militant group.

Mr. Carter is not the first Western official to seek out Mr. al-Shaer; though no diplomats will admit it publicly, observers say both U.S. and European officials have put out feelers to him as a link to Hamas. Among his confirmed visitors is the British MP Richard Burden, a member of the ruling Labour Party.

Now, this smooth-talking, Western-educated university professor appears poised to play a major role in bringing Hamas back into the fold if the present Israeli-Palestinian peace talks do produce a deal this year. He was last autumn invited to meet with Mr. Abbas, despite the continuing standoff between the two political factions.

"Nasser al-Shaer has proved himself to be an Islamist interface for members of the international community keen to establish some understanding of Hamas but reluctant to engage with the Islamist movement directly," said Nicolas Pelham of the International Crisis Group, which has studied international responses to Hamas's rise to power.

Mr. al-Shaer is a study in contrasts: Born in 1961 in a village near Nablus, he has a doctorate from the University of Manchester, and was a research scholar at New York University. Unlike many of his Islamist counterparts, he will heartily shake a woman's hand, and his daughters study science and medicine. He professes admiration for the non-violent resistance preached by Mahatma Gandhi.

Yet he sat in cabinet with Hamas, whose charter still calls for the destruction of Israel and which has carried out dozens of suicide bombings. He warned that Hamas in Gaza is still strong and prepared to inflict casualties on the Israeli army should it attempt a major operation in Gaza.

"It seems to be [the West] insists on keeping Hamas isolated in the West Bank and Gaza. But I think they are wrong. You cannot solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which has caused so much pain to the whole world, you cannot solve it without talking to the right people who represent the Palestinians," Mr. al-Shaer said in a lengthy interview after his meeting with Mr. Carter. "How can you ignore that and refuse to talk to Hamas?"

But Mr. al-Shaer defends Hamas for its refusal to accept conditions set by the international community: to renounce violence and accept Israel's right to exist. Such conditions, he said, could only be accepted as part of a final peace package.

"Hamas seems to have learned a lesson from the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization], which sold everything to Israel but got nothing in return," he said.

"Hamas has declared its acceptance of any result that is achieved as a result of negotiations, as long as this conclusion of negotiations is brought forward in the form of a referendum."

That Mr. al-Shaer is free, unlike some 43 other Hamas legislators still sitting in Israeli prisons, suggests Israeli security officials have given some tacit acceptance to his role as interlocutor.

"Nasser al-Shaer's political experience, academic experience and scholarly experience makes him a positive contact for us, and a mediator with Hamas members and Hamas politicians," said the Fatah-linked Nablus governor Jamal Moheisen.

Other Fatah members in the region say the former cabinet minister is not well-liked, with bitter memories of last year's infighting between Fatah and Hamas still lingering. But Mr. Moheisen said Mr. al-Shaer is "very much needed" at a time when interfactional disputes still simmer.

While Mr. al-Shaer professes to "hate" the present divisions among Palestinians, he also has warnings for the present round of peace negotiations, relaunched at Annapolis, Md., last fall, which he says make unreasonable demands on Mr. Abbas - whom he refers to by his nickname, Abu Mazen - even as Israel's expansion of West Bank settlements continues.

"I said to Carter: Israel and [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert insist on Abu Mazen not talking to Hamas, and if he talks to Hamas they will cut off and stop negotiations. On the other side, they say how can we make peace with the Palestinians when they are not united and Abu Mazen has no control over Gaza. ... What do they want from him?" he said.

"Either we have negotiations that are solid, which would silence people and make them wait for the results of these negotiations, or if that doesn't happen, people will rise and start confronting Israelis."

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