Israelis say elected Hamas role could hamper talks
Reuters
Date: 03-13-05
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The participation of Hamas militants sworn to destroying Israel in Palestinian elections could pose problems for any eventual Middle East peace negotiations, Israeli officials have said.
Hamas announced on Saturday it would compete in this July's parliamentary vote, a step welcomed by President Mahmoud Abbas, who is trying to get the Islamic group to agree a formal ceasefire and join the political mainstream.
But Israeli spokesman Avi Pazner said the participation of Hamas could "pose problems to (Abbas) and for the future of negotiations between us and the Palestinian Authority."
"One has to be very cautious on this subject, but at the moment, all Hamas wants and is preaching openly, is the destruction of Israel. This movement is extremely dangerous, not only to us but also to the Palestinian Authority," he said.
Israel has said it would not negotiate with Hamas, which has spearheaded a suicide bombing campaign during a 4 1/2-year-old uprising. It has repeatedly urged Abbas to disarm the militants instead of courting them.
This week, Abbas is due to meet Hamas leaders in Cairo to try to get them to formally agree to respect his February 8 ceasefire with Israel and possibly give them a greater political role.
At the urging of Abbas, who is trying to restart talks with Israel after replacing Yasser Arafat, Hamas has followed a de facto truce since January.
With opinion polls showing support for Hamas at about one third of Palestinians, it could expect to do well in the July election at the expense of Abbas's dominant Fatah movement, dogged by accusations of corruption and mismanagement.
Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the question of who should stand in elections was one of democracy.
"All the Palestinian parties are invited and encouraged to participate in these elections and to choose the path of democracy rather than any other path," he said.
Hamas, which has won popularity for its charity network as well as its role fighting Israel, said it would run on a platform of preserving the right to wage an armed struggle.
"Hamas will not be transformed into a political party. Hamas will remain a resistance movement until the goals of the people are achieved," said Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri.
A senior Israeli official emphasised that there could be no negotiations for a final peace settlement before militant groups were dismantled.
Source
FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. |
|