Bush Opposes Palestinian Gov't With Hamas

Mon Jan 30, 4:35 PM ET

WASHINGTON - President Bush, addressing two international flash points, said Monday he will not support a Palestinian government made up of Hamas and that the United States is trying to build a united front to stop Iran's nuclear program.

"The Hamas party has made it clear that they do not support the right of Israel," Bush said after meeting with his Cabinet. "And I have made it clear that so long as that's their policy, that we will not support a Palestinian government made up of Hamas."

Bush said that Hamas, which won a decisive majority in last week's Palestinian legislative elections, must get rid of its arms and disavow terrorism.

Bush spoke amid discouraging reports regarding Iran, another Mideast trouble spot. Talks between Tehran and European nations in Belgium appeared to make little progress. John Sawers, a senior British official at the talks, said that Iran offered nothing new in its approach in the meeting, which was not a formal negotiating session.

Bush said an option now is for the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - to work together to bring the case to the full Council. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was joining foreign ministers from the four other members and Germany in London Monday night.

"And we're going to continue to work with our friends and allies to present a united front to the Iranians," Bush said. "And the message is: Give up your nuclear weapons ambitions. The good news is, most of the world recognizes that Iran being the nontransparent society that it is, a government that had violated IAEA rules, is one that cannot be trusted with technology that could enable it to develop a nuclear weapon."

Bush met with his Cabinet ahead of Tuesday night's State of the Union address. In the speech, he said, he will talk about how the Iranian people should live in freedom and discuss plans for health care, energy and education.

As has now become traditional immediately following the State of the Union address, Bush is taking his proposals on the road in the days afterward. He plans a speech a week for the next four weeks so that he can talk in more detail about domestic initiatives he introduces on Tuesday. This kicks off with an appearance Thursday in Maplewood, Minn., said White House press secretary Scott McClellan.

"The president is going to be traveling the country to speak directly to the American people," McClellan said. "It will be an opportunity for the president to lay out in greater detail his 2006 agenda."

Separately, aides have planned for the president to deliver one speech through February on the war on terror and Iraq.

Bush also is traveling this week to Nashville, Tenn., Albuquerque, N.M., and Dallas for other events.

McClellan said the State of the Union address has now gone through about two dozen drafts. The president plans his final practice session with the remarks later Monday in the White House's Family Theater.

But aides are remaining mum about the more substantive aspects of the speech, even declining to reveal who will sit with the first lady in the House gallery as living representatives of the president's message.

"We'll keep you on the edge of your seat a little bit longer," McClellan said.

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