Share this story!            

Hamas leader rejects roadmap, call to disarm

* Khaled Meshaal says coalition with Fatah ‘premature’
* Israel questions cash transfers to Palestinians after Hamas victory

ROME: Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal rejected suggestions the radical group should disarm following its shock victory in Palestinian elections, in an interview with an Italian newspaper published Friday.

Meshaal said in Damascus that the internationally sponsored roadmap for Middle East peace was “unacceptable,” and that talk of forming a coalition with the moderate Fatah, which it thrashed in the polls, was “premature”.

“The roadmap is unacceptable,” Meshaal told the daily La Repubblica, saying it imposed strict conditions on the Palestinians while asking too little of Israel.

Meshaal - who survived an Israeli assassination bid in 1997 - said the radical group would “certainly not” lay down its arms as long as much as its territory was occupied. “Only force has produced results,” he said, citing Israel’s recent withdrawal from Gaza. However, he denied his group sought the destruction of Israel, saying its statute had been misunderstood in the West.

Meshaal was quoted by the daily as saying that Hamas “has not closed the door to dialogue” with the Israelis. “It’s Israel’s current philosophy which is preventing it. For that reason, resistance is the only way.”

Acting Israeli leader Ehud Olmert announced that Israel would not negotiate with an administration that included a terrorist organisation and demanded the Palestinian Authority act on a pre-election promise to disarm militant groups.

He and the newly appointed Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni have petitioned the international community in a bid to gather as much support as possible.

Meanwhile, Israel threw into doubt on Friday its willingness to transfer customs revenue to the Palestinians after militant group Hamas’s victory in this week’s election.

“We will face practical problems of how you deal with people that call for the destruction of Israel,” Joseph Bachar, director general at the Israeli finance ministry, told the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

Bachar was referring to customs and value-added tax revenue that Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinians and which he described as the main source for financing the Palestinian budget.

Palestinian Economy Minister Mazen Sinokrot, sitting on the same panel as Bachar, said the Palestinian Authority faced a financial crunch as early as next week if Israel withholds the $40-50 million it hands over every month. Sinokrot said the cash transfers in question amounted to “monthly revenues exceeding $40-50 million” and Israel was obliged to pay. agencies

Home | Foreign

Share this story!