Bush urges stepped-up world pressure on Hamas

Fri Feb 24, 3:11 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush urged the international community on Friday to make clear to Hamas, winner of the Palestinian elections, that it must recognize Israel's right to exist or else be denied aid.

"The world is waiting to see what choice Hamas makes," Bush told U.S. military veterans as Hamas prepared to form a new Palestinian cabinet.

But Bush's comments followed a Middle East tour by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in which she faced resistance from Arab allies to withholding funding from a Palestinian government led by Hamas, a militant group Washington lists as a terrorist organization.

Hamas's surprise January 25 win has dented U.S. hopes of reviving Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking soon and has fueled criticism of Bush's strategy of pushing for democracy in the Middle East.

In a wide-ranging speech to the American Legion, Bush defended his pro-democracy policies and denied they were backfiring or destabilizing the region, despite Hamas's surprise win and spasms of sectarian strife in Iraq.

Stepping up U.S. pressure, Bush reiterated that Hamas, elected on a platform of fighting corruption and easing Palestinian hardship, must abandon its anti-Israel stance if it wants U.S. aid on the road to statehood. Hamas's charter calls for Israel's destruction.

"If they want the help of America and the international community to build a prosperous, independent, Palestinian state, they must recognize Israel, disarm, reject terrorism and work for lasting peace," Bush said.

"The international community must continue to make clear to Hamas that democratically elected leaders cannot have one foot in the camp of democracy and one foot in the camp of terror," he added.

FALTERING CAMPAIGN

The United States has led a faltering campaign to isolate Hamas since its election victory. But Hamas has so far not been swayed, saying Western threats to cut off aid amount to blackmail and alternative sources of funding can be found.

Washington has won commitments from major powers such as the European Union and Russia to demand that Hamas, which has launched suicide attacks against Israel, renounce violence, recognize the Jewish state and live up to peace accords.

But Moscow and others have agreed to meet Hamas leaders and few countries have pledged to end assistance to the aid-dependent Palestinian Authority when the militants form a cabinet.

U.S. ally Saudi Arabia deepened a U.S.-Arab split over Hamas on Wednesday, joining Egypt's rejection of Rice's appeal for neighbors to deny aid to a Hamas-led government. Iran, Washington's arch-foe in the region, has pledged new funds.

Devoting a large part of his speech to Iraq, Bush said it faced a "moment of choosing" in the aftermath of the bombing of a major Shi'ite Muslim shrine this week and appealed to Iraqis to avoid sectarian violence.

Bush hailed Iraq's Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for working to urge calm after the bombing on Wednesday, which raised fears of outright civil war. U.S.-led forces are struggling to contain a bloody, Sunni-led insurgency.

He said Iraqi officials were taking steps to move the political process forward. Washington is pressuring the Shi'ite-dominated government to reach out to minority Sunnis.

"We can expect the coming days will be intense. Iraq remains a serious situation, but I'm optimistic, because the Iraqi people have spoken their desire for democracy through elections," he said. (Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria and Steve Holland)

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