Hamas MP says prisoners' document not recognize Israel
2006-09-24 20:27:53
Special report: Internal situation in Palestine
GAZA, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- A lawmaker of the ruling Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) underlined on Sunday that a prisoners' document didn't recognize Israel.
"All factions have agreed on the (Prisoners') Document (of National Accordance) as a clear reference which didn't include recognition of the occupation and maintained national principles," said Mushier al-Masri, also a Hamas spokesman.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haneya agreed earlier to form a coalition government with a new moderate political program based on the Prisoners' Document.
The document, initiated by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, calls for a Palestinian statehood alongside Israel and a truce with Israel to end the ongoing violence in the Palestinian territories.
Hamas insisted that the document doesn't call for recognizing Israel, saying that "the document says that the rights don't expire by time and there is no legitimacy for the occupation."
However, for others, the document included an implicit recognition of Israel by calling for a Palestinian statehood alongside the Jewish state.
As for a coalition government, al-Masri said his Hamas movement was "very serious in its efforts to form a national unity government," adding that the upcoming government should not come "under foreign pressure" and its platform would be based on the Prisoners' Document.
Efforts to form the coalition were frustrated following Hamas' refusal to recognize Israel.
On Saturday, Abbas said that efforts with Hamas to form a national unity government have gone "back to zero", criticizing "retractions" by Hamas leaders who insisted a unity government would not recognize Israel despite their agreement on forming the coalition earlier this month.
Hamas MP says prisoners' document not recognize Israel
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