Prophecy and End Time Series. - Israel

[Shammu]

Hamas: We're ready to rule Palestinians
Terror chief proud of election results, slams Abbas' Fatah Party
Posted: January 25, 2006
7:42 p.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – Hamas, responsible for over 100 suicide bombings and scores of shooting and rocket attacks, is ready to join the Palestinian government and lead its people to "victory and independence," the terror group's Gaza chief Mahmoud al-Zahar told WorldNetDaily in an exclusive interview.

With exit polls predicting the ruling Fatah Party will win today's elections by a slim margin, some Hamas leaders accused Fatah of tampering with ballots and blasted the United States for allegedly providing financial support to the opposition.

"We are very proud of our showing so far, which indicates the Palestinian people want to put an end to corruption and the domination of Fatah, which after all these years has not been a good leader for the Palestinians," said al-Zahar, speaking to WND just moments after initial polls showed Hamas looks set to garner 53 seats and Fatah 58 seats in the 132-member Palestinian Parliament.

Polling stations across the West Bank and Gaza Strip closed after 12 hours of voting, with ballots under inspection by the Palestinian Central Election Commission. Stations in Jerusalem stayed open an extra two hours after Fatah complained about bureaucratic delays.

Multiple exit polls predicted a slim Fatah victory, but pollsters cautioned there would be a large margin of error in their projections in light of what they called a complicated Palestinian election system, under which some seats are chosen from party lists and others on the basis of overall districts.

Still, hundreds of Fatah gunmen in the West Bank and Gaza reportedly took to the streets in celebration of their party's expected victory, shooting rifles into the air and waving Fatah's yellow flag.

If tomorrow's final ballot count certifies a slim win for Fatah, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would quickly need to decide whether to invite Hamas to join his government or leave the terror group in the opposition. Abbas needs to maintain a 67-seat coalition. Multiple experts have said Abbas could form a ruling coalition with several leftist and communist party's instead of Hamas.

But al-Zahar told WND he is confident his terror group will form the next Palestinian government.

"Abbas will invite us. I think he realizes he needs Hamas and he knows the Palestinian people made a statement today that only we can rebuild Palestinian society and the West Bank and Gaza," said al-Zahar.

President Bush today stated the U.S. will not deal with Hamas unless the terror group disarms and renounces its call to destroy Israel, but he did not say whether America will cut off financial aid to the PA if Hamas joins the government.

"A political party, in order to be viable, is one that professes peace, in my judgment, in order that it will keep the peace," Bush said. "And so you're getting a sense of how I'm going to deal with Hamas if they end up in positions of responsibility. And the answer is: Not until you renounce your desire to destroy Israel will we deal with you."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and European Union leaders will meet Monday to debate a response if Hamas joins the Palestinian government, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

The European Union is on record against allowing terror groups to join to PA, but there have been signs it and the U.S. may still deal with a Palestinian government that includes Hamas.

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Union's external relations commissioner, said in Brussels the EU would not rule out working with a Palestinian government partially run by Hamas, provided the group sought "peace by peaceful means" with Israel.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dick Jones this week compared a Hamas coalition to the current government in Lebanon, explaining the U.S. is speaking with Lebanese rulers but not with Hezbollah ministers and that it would be possible to create a similar system with the Palestinians.

Previously asked by WND if he thinks a Hamas election victory would bring international isolation to the Palestinian people, al-Zahar responded, "There are many countries that suffer from international isolation, but we are speaking about very big popular support [for Hamas] from the Palestinian people. ... [We have the] support of many countries other than Europe and America, which has Zionist attitudes. We will succeed to help our people by all means whether the Western people accept us or not."

Al-Zahar said his group would not disarm and might not renew a truce with Israel that expires next month. Israel says Hamas has been involved in several rocket and shooting attacks the past year in spite of the truce.

Meanwhile, Hamas leaders are debating whether or not to challenge the election results when the final count is announced, WND has learned.

Senior Hamas officials have held a series of meetings charging Fatah with illegal campaign practices.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri accused Fatah of keeping the ballots opened longer in Jerusalem so Fatah supporters who couldn't reach the voting booths in time could be bussed in.

Some Hamas officials said they suspect Fatah may have tampered with ballots in certain regions and entirely forged votes in some West Bank towns.

One Hamas leader who spoke on condition his name be withheld said U.S. financial support to Fatah candidates influenced the ballots.

"The Zionist Americans helped the opposition by giving money that was used for a lot of advertising and swung the vote for Fatah," said the leader, who said he did not want to speak on the record because Hamas has not decided yet whether to make an issue out of alleged American aide to Fatah.

The U.S. Agency for International Development reportedly funneled large sums of money to Fatah for use in campaigning to counter Hamas, the Washington Post reported, stating the PA used some of the money to purchase newspaper advertisements.

Hamas, classified by the State Department and the European Union as a terrorist organization, is responsible for thousands of deadly shooting attacks, scores of suicide bombings and has fired over 300 rockets and mortars into Israeli towns.

Among Hamas' most notorious attacks are the "Passover massacre" in a Netanya hotel in 2002 in which 30 civilians celebrating the Jewish holiday were killed, the 2002 "Patt Junction bombing" of a Jerusalem bus killing 19 civilians, and the bombings in 2002 and 2003 of Jerusalem bus numbers 20 and 2, killing a combined 34 civilians, among scores of other large-scale suicide attacks.

Earlier this week in a widely reported interview, al-Zahar told WND his group may negotiate with Israel through a third party.

"If the Israelis have an offer to be discussed and [the offer includes] two very important points – the release of all [Palestinian] detainees and a stop of all Israeli aggression, including the process of withdrawal from the West Bank ... then we are going to search for an effective and constructive process [that will bring this] at the end," al-Zahar claimed.

Still, the terror chief said he will not amend the official Hamas charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel by "assaulting and killing," and rejects all peace talks with the Jewish state.

Hamas: We're ready to rule Palestinians

[Shammu]

Jan. 25, 2006 17:56
Iran threatens to put Israel into 'eternal coma'
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
TEHRAN, Iran

Were Israel to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, Iran would respond so strongly that it would put the Jewish state into "an eternal coma" like Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's, the Iranian defense minister said Wednesday.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has said his country would not accept Iran's acquiring nuclear weapons under any circumstances. He stopped short of threatening a military strike against Iran - as Israel destroyed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981 - but he said Israel was preparing for the possible failure of diplomatic negotiations with Iran.

A newscaster on Iranian state television read out a response from Iran's minister of defense, Gen. Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, on Wednesday.

"Zionists should know that if they do anything evil against Iran, the response of Iran's armed forces will be so firm that it will send them into eternal coma, like Sharon," Najjar said.

The Israeli prime minister suffered a massive stroke on January 4 and has been in a coma ever since. His doctors said he has responded to pain stimulus, but has shown no signs of waking up.

Iran threatens to put Israel into 'eternal coma'

My note; As much as they wish, this will never happen. 

[Shammu]

Hamas wins upset victory in Palestinian election
Thu Jan 26, 2006 9:07 AM ET166

 By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - The Islamic militant Hamas group swept to victory over the long-dominant Fatah party on Thursday in Palestinian parliamentary polls, a political earthquake that could bury any hope for reviving peace talks with Israel soon.

The shock outcome, acknowledged by Fatah ahead of official results, does not automatically unseat President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate elected last year after Yasser Arafat's death. But he has said he might resign if unable to pursue a peace policy.

With peace negotiations stalled since 2000 and Israel and Hamas bitter enemies, Israeli interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert could opt for more unilateral moves, following last year's Gaza pullout, to shape borders on land Palestinians want for a state.

Olmert, who took over from Ariel Sharon after the 77-year-old leader's January 4 stroke, suggested as much in a speech this week in which he repeated peace talks could not resume unless the Palestinian Authority disarmed militants.

Commentators in the Arab world predicted pragmatism would eventually prevail, with Hamas softening a position that now calls for the Jewish state's destruction and Israel forging contacts with a new Palestinian powerhouse on its doorstep.

"Hamas has won more than 70 seats in Gaza and the West Bank, which gives it more than 50 percent of the vote," said Ismail Haniyeh, a leader of the group.

Within hours of the statement, based on results supplied by Hamas representatives at polling stations in Wednesday's election, Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie of Fatah and his cabinet quit. Abbas asked him to stay on in a caretaker capacity.

WASHINGTON BACKS ABBAS

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice telephoned Abbas and told him "the U.S. administration will continue to support him and to back his policies", a spokesman for Abbas said.

Leaders of the European Union, the biggest aid donor to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority, said Hamas must renounce violence and recognize Israel or risk international isolation.

Under Palestinian law, the biggest party in the 132-member parliament can veto the president's choice of a prime minister, effectively enabling Hamas to shape the next cabinet.

"Our lives will never be the same," Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said. "Today we woke up and the sky was a different color. We have entered a new era."

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev declined comment amid reports that Olmert had told cabinet ministers not to speak out before top-level consultations on the Hamas win.

Israel, the United States and the European Union have classified Hamas, which has carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings in the Jewish state since a Palestinian uprising began in 2000, as a terrorist organization.

The United States is the main sponsor of a stalled "road map" peace plan that charts mutual steps toward the creation of a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.

A senior Fatah official said it appeared Hamas was propelled to victory by public frustration over the mainstream faction's failure to achieve Palestinian statehood and anger over years of corruption in its institutions and in the Palestinian Authority.

Official results were expected to be released around 7 p.m.

COALITION FEELERS SPURNED

Hamas officials held out the possibility of a coalition with Fatah and other parties -- and reaffirmed the group's commitment to what it calls armed resistance against Israeli occupation, as well as its opposition to negotiations with Israel.

Hamas's politburo chief Khaled Meshaal telephoned Abbas to affirm "a commitment to partnership with all the Palestinian forces, including the brothers in the Fatah movement".

But Jibril Rajoub, a senior Fatah official, rejected any coalition with Hamas, a group that Abbas had said he hoped to bring into the political mainstream and persuade to disarm.

Although Hamas's charter calls for Israel's elimination in favor of an Islamic state, its armed wing has largely respected a truce negotiated by Abbas and Egypt nearly a year ago.

In the wider Middle East, the Hamas victory was seen as strengthening the hand of those who favor democracy even at the risk of removing authoritarian Arab governments which themselves face Islamist opposition movements sympathetic to Hamas.

U.S. President George W. Bush said on Wednesday he would not deal with Hamas unless it accepted Israel's existence.

Voting in Wednesday's election was orderly despite weeks of armed chaos. More than 400 candidates ran locally in the first parliamentary elections since 1996. About 900 foreign observers, led by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, were present.

Three exit polls had forecast a slim Fatah victory in the election. Turnout was 78 percent of the 1.3 million voters.
Hamas wins upset victory in Palestinian election

[Shammu]

Last update - 18:30 26/01/2006            
Iranian official says hopes Hamas victory will unite Palestinians
By News Agencies

TEHRAN - The Iranian Foreign Ministry said Thursday that the country welcomes the victory of Hamas in the Palestinian Legislative Council election and hopes the result will strengthen resistance against Israel.

The United States and Israel accuse Iran of arming and funding militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad. But Iran says it only gives moral support to the Palestinian groups.

"Iran ... hopes that the powerful presence of Hamas at the [political] scene brings about great achievements for the Palestinian nation," said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi in a statement faxed to Reuters.

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During a visit to Damascus this month, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pledged support for militant Palestinian factions at a meeting with leaders from Islamic Jihad and Hamas. Ahmadinejad has said Israel should be "wiped off the map."

Asefi said the 78 percent turnout showed Palestinian nation's determination to fight against Israel.

"It showed the nation's loyalty and support to the resistance movement. We hope the result unites the Palestinian nation in pursuing its rights," Asefi said.

State-run radio in Iran opened its afternoon news broadcast with the report of Hamas' victory, saying the vote showed that Palestinians support resistance against Israel.

"Now the true representatives of the Palestinian people have come to power," said Javad Majidi, a student at Iran's Tehran University.

Jihad-Daneshgai, a semi-governmental cultural body active in Iranian universities, congratulated Hamas in a statement, saying the victory "angers the arrogant leaders of the U.S. and the occupiers of Jerusalem."

The Hamas victory was greeted with jubilation Thursday across the Muslim world.

"This is a victory to all the region's free people," said Ayoub Muhanna, a 29-year-old Lebanese who owns a spare parts shop in the southeast town of Rashaya. "The Palestinians gave their vote to the party that gave of its blood."

But while Hamas' victory proved the group's popularity over the ruling Fatah party, the win also could backfire on the militant group, some analysts said.

"Hamas' role was greatly respected and embraced because it was a resistance movement," Sami Moubayed, a Syrian analyst, told the Associated Press.

"Now, they will naturally be prone to fail like any other movement that entered the political arena, because they will have a very hard time to deliver on their promises," he said.

"The Palestinian Authority is corrupt and Hamas will now share the blame," he added. "Resistance is something very honorable. Politics is a dirty game."

Leaders of both Hamas and Fatah said Thursday that Hamas had won an outright majority of parliamentary seats, although official results were not yet available. That gives them the right to form the next Palestinian government, although it was not clear if they would choose to do so.

"What happened was tantamount to an earthquake," said Muhammad Jalbout, a Palestinian living in Syria.

He blamed the U.S. for indirectly helping Hamas win by not exerting enough pressure on Israel to implement agreements reached with the government of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, which would have reduced tensions in Palestinian areas.

'An Arab Sharon'
Dawood al-Shirian, a Saudi who hosts a political talk show on Dubai TV, said a Hamas win "will reflect positively on the political process, because Hamas has a good reputation in the Palestinian street."

Hamas' participation in the political process is also "an indirect recognition" of the 1993 Oslo agreement between the Palestinians and Israelis, which the group has long rejected, because the Palestinian Authority was founded as a result of the Oslo agreement, al-Shirian said.

Al-Shirian said he expected the group to be tough negotiators if peace talks are reopened between Israelis and Palestinians.

"They will be the Arab Sharon," he said. "They will be tough, but only a tough group can snatch concessions from Israel. "

The result of the electoins "will give [Hamas] a major boost," said Dia'a Rashwan, an Egyptian expert on Islamic movements.

Essam el-Aryan, a spokesman for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood - which recently increased the number of its seats in Egypt's parliament from 17 to 88 - said the Brotherhood was jubilant.

"This is a great victory for Hamas," he said.

But he added that Hamas now faces the challenge "of maintaining good relations with the Arab governments and world powers to secure support for the Palestinian cause."

Iranian official says hopes Hamas victory will unite Palestinians

[Shammu]

Last update - 17:57 26/01/2006            
Bush urges Abbas to remain in office despite Hamas victory
By Shmuel Rosner, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and Agencies

United States President George W. Bush urged Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday to remain in office despite the legislative elections which gave Hamas an absolute majority in parliament.

"We'd like him stay in power. I mean we'd like him to stay in office. He is in power. We'd like him to stay in office."

Bush reiterated the U.S. position that it will not deal with Palestinian leaders who do not recognize Israel's right to exist.

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"I don't see how you can be a partner in peace if you advocate the destruction of a country as part of your platform. And I know you know you can't be a partner in peace if you have - if your party has got an armed wing," Bush told a White House news conference.

Asked if the United States was ruling out dealing with a Palestinian government that was made up partly of Hamas, he replied:

"They don't have a government yet, so you're asking me to speculate on what the government will look like. I have made it very clear however that a political party that articulates the destruction of Israel as part of a platform is a party with which we will not deal.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday there could be no Middle East peace process if Hamas, winner of Wednesday's Palestinian parliamentary election, refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist.

"You can't have a peace process if you're not committed to the right of your partner to exist," she told the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, speaking by videolink.

"And I think you will hear the international community speak clearly on exactly those principles over the next day. There will be some difficult choices before those in whom the Palestinian people are placing their trust."

Rice said the Palestinian election had been peaceful and fair, with very high turnout. But she said the U.S. position on Hamas, which it considers a terrorist organization, was unchanged.

"As we have said, you cannot have one foot in politics and the other in terror. Our position on Hamas has therefore not changed."

Rice added: "Anyone who wants to govern the Palestinian people and do so with the support of the international community has got to be committed to a two-state solution, must be committed to the right of Israel to exist.

"But if there is to be a future that can answer the aspirations for peace of the Palestinian people ... then it is going to have to be a future that renounces violence and terrorism."

The office of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that Rice had called Abbas to praise Palestinian democracy and assert that the U.S. supports him and his policies.

"She asserted to him that U.S. administration will continue supporting the elected president and his policies," said Nabil Abu Rudeineh, an Abbas aide.

U.S. FBI Director Robert Mueller said Thursday that Hamas remains a terrorist organization despite its success in elections.

"Hamas is a terrorist organization and Hamas has a choice to make," Mueller told the annual meeting of business and government leaders at the World Economic Forum. "It has to be treated as such by us until something convinces otherwise.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday the United States and all other governments should not recognize any Hamas-led Palestinian government unless the group renounces violence and recognizes Israel's right to exist.

"Until and unless Hamas renounces violence and terror, and renounces its position calling for the destruction of Israel, I don't believe the United States should recognize them, nor any nation in the world," said the former first lady, a potential candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Carter urges Hamas to act responsibly
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Thursday that he hoped that Hamas would act "responsibly" now that it appears to have been elected to power in the Palestinian parliamentary elections.

"My hope is that as Hamas assumes a major role in the next government, whatever that might be, it will take a position on international standards of responsibility," Carter told a news conference in Jerusalem.

Carter, who led an international observer team from the National Democratic Institute, said Wednesday's elections had been orderly and fair.

The elections were "completely honest, completely fair, completely safe and without violence," the former president said.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Thursday congratulated the Palestinians on the "the smooth running" of the elections."

"The Palestinian people have voted democratically and peacefully. I welcome this," he said.

Solana also expressed caution at the results, saying that they "may confront us with an entirely new situation."

"The EU will express its views and prospects for cooperation with the future Palestinian Government in the light of that discussion and of developments on the ground," he added, saying that the Quartet of Middle East peace brokers would discuss "this new situation" at a meeting in London next week.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Thursday that the Hamas victory was a "very, very, very bad result," according to news reports.

"If this news was confirmed, everything we had hoped for, that chance for peace between Israel and Palestine, is postponed to who knows when," Berlusconi said, according to the ANSA and Apcom news agencies. The comments were made during a TV show on a station Berlusconi owns.

Italy's foreign minister said the result risks making the creation of a Palestinian state more difficult.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw urged the Islamic militant group to renounce violence and recognize Israel.

"Hamas has to understand that with democracy goes renunciation of violence," Straw said on a visit to the Turkish capital. "It is up to Hamas to choose. We will have to wait and see, the international community will want Hamas to make a proper rejection of violence and to acknowledge that Israel exists," Straw said.

The Danish and Swedish foreign ministers on Thursday called on Hamas to give up their weapons. "It is a surprise election result. No one had expected they would get an absolute majority, if that is the outcome," Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said.

"Hamas must stop the terror, they must put down the arms, they must accept a negotiated solution before the rest of the world can include them in the peace process," Moeller said.

Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds said the EU will not be able to cooperate with Hamas unless it changes its policies. "It is not possible for the EU to cooperate with a regime that does not dissociate itself from using violence and does not acknowledge Israel's right to exist," Freivalds told Swedish Radio.

The European Commission said Thursday it would work with any Palestinian government that used peaceful means.

"It is clear that Hamas has really got a very large proportion of the vote," European External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told a European Parliament committee before official results were announced.

"What is important is that we state we are happy to work with any government if that government is prepared to work by peaceful means," she said.

Bush urges Abbas to remain in office despite Hamas victory

[2nd Timothy]

So much for the worlds Roadmap to peace!   Can't have peace without the Prince of Peace

[Shammu]

So much for the worlds Roadmap to peace!   Can't have peace without the Prince of Peace

AMEN

You know 2T, back when this thread was started things were bad. Now looking at this thread, you can see a trail. A trail getting worse, then before.

[Shammu]

Hamas Election Victory Shocks World

By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press Writer 10 minutes ago

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Islamic militant Hamas' landslide victory in Palestinian elections unnerved the world, darkening prospects for Mideast peace and ending four decades of rule by the corruption-riddled Fatah Party.

The parliamentary victory Thursday stunned even Hamas leaders, who mounted a well-organized campaign but have no experience in government. They offered to share power with President Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah chief, who said he may go around the new government to talk peace with
Israel.

Underscoring the tensions between the secular Fatah and fundamentalist Hamas, some 3,000 supporters of the militant group marched through Ramallah and raised their party's green flag over the Palestinian parliament. Fatah supporters tried to lower the banner. The two sides fought for about 30 minutes, throwing stones and breaking windows in the building.

Abbas, who was elected last year to a four-year term as president of the Palestinian Authority, has yet to decide how closely to work with a group that built its clout through suicide bombings. But his Fatah Party decided not to join a Hamas government, Fatah legislator Saab Erekat said.

"We will be a loyal opposition and rebuild the party," Erekat said after meeting with Abbas.

Hamas won a clear majority in Wednesday's vote, capturing 76 of the 132 seats in parliament, according to official, near-complete results released Thursday. The results of the popular vote were not announced.

Four independent candidates backed by Hamas also won seats. Fatah, which has dominated Palestinian political life since the 1960s but alienated voters because of rampant corruption, got 43 seats. The remaining went to smaller parties.

Palestinians across the Gaza Strip and West Bank greeted the election results with joy, setting off fireworks and firing rifles in the air.

But leaders across the world demanded that Hamas, which is branded a terror group by the U.S. and
European Union, renounce violence and recognize Israel.

"If your platform is the destruction of Israel, it means you're not a partner in peace, and we're interested in peace," U.S. President George W. Bush said in Washington.

Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel will not negotiate with a Palestinian government that includes Hamas members, and senior Cabinet officials held an emergency meeting to discuss the repercussions of the vote. Acting Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni asked the EU not to deal with a "terror government."

Hamas leaders immediately took to the international — and even Israeli — airwaves to send out a moderate message.

"Don't be afraid," Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, told the BBC.

Mahmoud Zahar, another Hamas leader, said the group would extend its year-old truce if Israel reciprocates. "If not, then I think we will have no option but to protect our people and our land," he said.

At a victory news conference late Thursday, however, Haniyeh said Hamas will "complete the liberation of other parts of Palestine." He did not say which territories he was referring to or how he would go about it.

Hamas has largely adhered to the cease-fire declared last February, while a smaller militant group, Islamic Jihad, carried out six suicide bombings against Israelis during that period.

Abbas said he remained committed to peace talks and suggested they be conducted through the Palestine Liberation Organization rather than the Palestinian Authority. That could help him sidestep a Hamas-run government in peace talks.

"I am committed to implementing the program on which you elected me a year ago," he said in a televised speech. "It is a program based on negotiations and peaceful settlement with Israel."

Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and his Cabinet resigned to make room for a Hamas-led government.

The Islamic group quickly reached out to Abbas to try to work out a partnership, Haniyeh said, adding that he did not expect the Palestinian leader to resign.

Hamas leaders had said before the vote they would be content to be a junior partner in the next government. The group campaigned mainly on cleaning up the Palestinian Authority — downplaying the conflict with Israel — and Zahar said Thursday that Hamas planned to overhaul the government.

"We are going to change every aspect, as regards the economy, as regards industry, as regards agriculture, as regards social aid, as regards health, administration, education," he said.

Some experts believed the Hamas victory would force it to moderate. Others feared it would embolden the group to remake Palestinian life in keeping with its strict interpretation of Islam.

"We don't want the Palestinian people and cause to be isolated. We don't want a theocracy," said independent lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi. "Hamas promises reform, sure they will do that, I would like to see reform. But what worries me is things like legislation on education, culture, social welfare, the ramifications for peace in the future."

Hamas' victory was cheered in the Arab world, though many said they feared the group would become even more radical under pressure from its hard-line backers, Syria and Iran.

The rise of Hamas was certain to be a key issue in Israel's March 28 election.

"Today, Hamastan was formed, a representative of Iran and in the image of the Taliban," said Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the opposition Likud Party. Labor Party politician Ami Ayalon, a former head of the Shin Bet security service, said Israel might have to change the route of its West Bank security barrier because of the Hamas victory.

Immediately upon taking power, Hamas will be confronted with an avalanche of issues, including what to do about the Palestinian security services, which are comprised of hard-core Fatah members, said Basem Ezbidi, a political science professor at the West Bank's Bir Zeit University. "It's not going to be easy for Hamas to govern these bodies," he said.

Others expected Hamas to fold its own fighters into the security forces.

Hamas' victory virtually ruled out a resumption of stalled peace efforts, and could push Israel to take further unilateral moves to set its permanent borders, following last year's Gaza pullout.

It also could jeopardize hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign donations to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority.

Speaking at a news conference, Bush did not directly answer a question about the fate of U.S. aid to the Palestinians, though he suggested Hamas' victory could have an impact. "I made it very clear that the United States does not support political parties that want to destroy our ally Israel, and that people must renounce that part of their platform," he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to meet in London on Monday with U.N., Russian and European leaders as the so-called "Quartet" of would-be international peacemakers evaluates the results and tries to decide how to proceed.

"The Quartet reiterates its view that there is a fundamental contradiction between armed group and militia activities and the building of a democratic state," U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "A two-state solution to the conflict requires all participants in the democratic process to renounce violence and terror, accept Israel's right to exist, and disarm, as outlined in the 'road map.'"

It will be almost impossible for Israel and the Palestinians to sever ties completely. Much of their infrastructure, including water and electricity networks, is intertwined, and the vast majority of Palestinian imports pass through Israeli-controlled borders. Hamas ministers would also need Israeli permission to travel between the West Bank and Gaza

Hamas Election Victory Shocks World

[Shammu]

A Look at Islamic Militant Group's Leaders

The leaders of the military wing of Hamas, responsible for suicide bombings and other attacks against Israelis, stay underground and out of sight. The group's overall leadership is in Syria. But Hamas' local political figures will be prominent in the new Palestinian parliament.

The Hamas leaders are:

Khaled Mashaal: Recognized as the leader of Hamas, based in Damascus. Mashaal makes the decisions about Hamas policy in consultation with West Bank and Gaza leaders as well as others in Damascus. Mashaal maintains an uncompromising line against Israel. He survived an abortive Israeli assassination attempt in Jordan in 1997.

Mahmoud Zahar: The local political leader of Hamas and a founder of the group, he was elected to the new parliament. He was the personal physician for Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual force behind Hamas who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in 2004. Zahar adopts a stern, harsh policy toward Israel, promoting the Hamas ideology that rejects the existence of a Jewish state in an Islamic Middle East.

Ismail Haniyeh: The top candidate on the Hamas list and known as a relative moderate in the group, he was elected to the new parliament. Haniyeh is one of the most public of the Hamas figures, remaining available to comment on events even when most of the other leaders drop out of sight for fear of Israeli attacks. (Open mouth, insert foot)

Sheik Hassan Yousef: The top Hamas figure in the West Bank, he was released from Israeli prison in 2004. Yousef is the most moderate of the Hamas leaders, refusing to rule out talks with Israel under strict conditions. He was elected to the new parliament.

[Shammu]

Hamas Says It Will Not Change

By STEVEN GUTKIN, Associated Press Writer Sat Jan 28, 9:47 PM ET

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Following their resounding election victory, the Islamic militants of Hamas met the question of whether they will change their stripes with a loud "no": no recognition of
Israel, no negotiations, no renunciation of terror.

But the world holds out hope that international pressure can make them more moderate. At stake is the future of Mideast peacemaking, billions of dollars in aid and the Palestinians' relationship with Israel, the United States and Europe.

Hamas' victory — winning 74 of 132 parliament seats in Wednesday's election — has created a dizzying power shift in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, overturning certitudes and highlighting the failure by Palestinian leaders, Israel and the international community to ease growing desperation in the Palestinian territories.

Weekend violence between Hamas and Palestinian policemen mostly allied with long-dominant Fatah, and angry demonstrations by disgruntled gunmen fearing the loss of jobs and income after the Hamas win, have raised the specter of widespread civil strife.

After a brutal five-year campaign by Israel to destroy Hamas and assassinate its top leaders, the organization emerged stronger than ever and is poised to take over the Palestinian Authority.

The U.S. has pushed for democracy in the Middle East, hoping to promote moderation and head off more 9/11-style attacks, but, as in recent votes in Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon, a clean and fair election has empowered Islamists in the West Bank and Gaza.

Israel and the international community repeatedly have demanded that the Palestinian government disarm militias, but now that the main militia appears to have become the government, no one knows what will happen to its weapons.

The win by Hamas — which is responsible for dozens of suicide bombings on Israelis and has long called for the destruction of the Jewish state — caught everyone, including the organization itself, off guard.

Both Hamas and the international community face agonizing dilemmas. Hamas leaders say they won't renounce their violent ideology, but the consequences of failing to do so are likely to be catastrophic: loss of life-sustaining aid, international isolation and a profound setback to their statehood aspirations.

The United States and many European countries say they'll have nothing to do with a Hamas government, but a sharp cutoff in aid and an overly zealous stance could steer the Palestinians further away from moderation at an extremely delicate moment.

An interview with an up-and-coming young Hamas leader in a dusty Gaza Strip field revealed how the organization's slant could shift.

Mushir al-Masri said renouncing the "armed struggle" and negotiating with Israel are "not on Hamas' agenda" because a decade of talking won the Palestinians nothing.

"We cannot waste 10 more years when the last 10 years failed to realize even the minimum amount of Palestinian hopes," he said.

But when an aide tried to put a green Hamas sash over al-Masri's shoulder before a TV interview, the 29-year-old newly elected lawmaker shooed him away. "You should bring me the Palestinian flag," he said, reflecting his movement's stated desire to represent all Palestinians.

By all accounts, Palestinians didn't choose Hamas because they reject peace talks with Israel but rather because they were fed up with graft in the ruling Fatah Party. Hamas candidates ran on a platform of clean government, largely de-emphasizing their militant credentials.

Samih al-Hattab, a 32-year-old policeman in Gaza City, said he voted for Hamas because "everyone wants change," but said he expected the group to soften its stances once in power.

"A politician has to be seasoned and to adapt to the situation he's under," he said, standing outside a mosque where a cleric had just finished a sermon urging Hamas not to follow the corrupt ways of Fatah.

Hamas leaders are aware of their dilemma. Since the election, they have struggled to persuade Fatah to join them in a coalition — hoping to avoid having to deal with Israel and the West. But Fatah has so far rejected the offer.

Hamas victory celebrations have been decidedly muted, another indication the group seeks to handle the situation delicately.

Despite that, tensions are boiling on the streets. Clashes in Gaza between Hamas gunmen and Palestinian police on Friday and Saturday wounded four officers and one Hamas militant.

Also Saturday, thousands of angry Fatah activists, led by masked gunmen firing in the air, marched through several West Bank cities demanding the resignation of party leaders following their defeat.

The growing unrest, combined with the complexities of running a government and world pressure for it to change its ways, pose daunting challenges to Hamas, which has little experience in governance.

If Hamas forms the next government, as is likely, and fails to renounce its call for the destruction of Israel, the U.S. and most European countries are almost certain to cut off the financial aid that keeps the already bankrupt Palestinian Authority running.

Israel, which has urged the international community not to deal with a Hamas government, has substantial leverage in the situation but for now appears intent on holding off on severe measures such as closing border crossings with Gaza or cutting off the monthly flow of tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestinians have a mixed system of government, part presidential and part parliamentary. That means Fatah's Mahmoud Abbas, the moderate president of the Palestinian Authority, should be able to remain in office.

Still unknown, however, is whether Hamas will seize its right to form the new government, taking over the premiership and a new Palestinian Cabinet, and what sort of powers that would give them. The previous Fatah-dominated legislature for the most part fell in line with Abbas.

Hamas Says It Will Not Change

[Shammu]

Israel: No Talks Until Hamas Ends Violence

By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press Writers Sun Jan 29, 3:29 PM ET

JERUSALEM - Israel ruled out contacts with a Palestinian government led by Hamas unless the Islamic group renounces violence and threatened Sunday to "liquidate" militants if they resume attacking Israelis.

Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel will stop the monthly transfer of tens of millions of dollars in tax rebates and other funds to the Palestinian Authority if a Hamas government is installed.

With the latest comments, Israel showed no signs of backing down from the hard line it has taken since Hamas won a surprising landslide victory in Palestinian legislative elections last week.

Hamas, which opposes the existence of Israel and has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bomb attacks, is expected to lead the next Palestinian government, hurting the chances for a peace deal.

Also Sunday, about 7,000 Israeli security forces, anticipating violent resistance, were training to dismantle two small
West Bank settlement outposts later this week, police said. Resistance is expected to be fierce in Amona and among Israeli squatters who took over an abandoned market in the Palestinian city of Hebron.

Israel's Supreme Court rejected a request from Jewish settlers to delay the order, clearing the way for the operation to proceed. It will mark Israel's first evacuation of Jewish settlers since withdrawing from the
Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank in August.

Olmert, addressing the weekly meeting of his Cabinet, said he has been in touch with leaders around the world in recent days and received support for the tough Israeli stance against Hamas.

"We clarified that without a clear abandonment of the path of terror, a recognition of Israel's right to exist in security and peace ... Israel won't have any contact with the Palestinians," Olmert said. "These principles are accepted by the international community. On this issue, I don't intend to make any compromises."

Hamas refuses to disarm or recognize Israel, though it has hinted that it could reach a long-term truce or other accommodation with the Jewish state.

Visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a news conference Germany will only deal with Hamas if it recognizes Israel and renounces violence. Merkel was meeting Israeli and Palestinian officials but said she would not meet Hamas representatives.

Israeli officials said the ban on contacts did not extend to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who accepts the Israeli conditions and is eager to resume peace talks. Abbas was elected to a four-year term last year and remains in power.

However, Olmert said Israel will not hand over value added tax and customs funds it collects on behalf of the Palestinians to a Hamas-led government.

Israel has "no intention" of sending funds to terror groups, Olmert told a joint news conference with Merkel.

Every month, Israel transfers an average of $54 million collected at ports and border crossings. In the past, Israel has held up the transfers during times of tension. Such a delay now would cripple the cash-strapped Palestinian government.

During the Cabinet meeting, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Hamas "is portraying policies of responsibility" and even has tried to restrain suicide attacks by the radical Islamic Jihad group.

But earlier, Mofaz said Israel is prepared to kill Hamas militants if the group resumes its attacks.

"Those who head terror organizations and continue to engage in terror against the state of Israel will be liquidated," told Channel 2 TV on Saturday night.

During five years of fighting with the Palestinians, Israel killed dozens of Hamas militants in airstrikes, including the group's founder and spiritual leader, Ahmed Yassin.

Since a cease-fire declaration last February, Hamas has not claimed involvement in a suicide attack and Israel has not killed any of the group's leaders.

Abbas, whose Fatah Party was routed in last week's election, has asked Hamas to form a new government and now must find a way to work with the Islamists. The arrangement could potentially put Hamas in charge of some, if not all, of the 58,000 Palestinian security forces.

But Fatah leaders say they will not submit to Hamas' authority over the Fatah-dominated security forces. The way Hamas deals with the security forces will prove key to how smoothly the power transfer goes.

"This is one of the biggest challenges facing Hamas," said Moheeb al-Nawaty, an expert on Islamic groups. "The security forces, their members and leaders, will not give in easily."

Hamas will face a struggle to overcome that internal challenge, plus threats of international isolation and a cutoff in foreign funding, to make good on its promises to clean up the government.

International donors, who have annually made up a huge shortfall in the perpetually strapped Palestinian Authority, are balking at funding a Hamas regime.

Abbas in the past has called on Hamas to disarm, as required in the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, but never took action against the group.

Hamas' supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal, said Saturday the group would not disarm but suggested it could fold the thousands of fighters in its armed wing into a Palestinian security force.

Israel: No Talks Until Hamas Ends Violence

[Shammu]

Iran to hold Holocaust conference despite furor
Sun Jan 29, 2006 9:23 AM ET

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Sunday it would hold a conference in a few months time to examine the scale of the Holocaust, which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has described as a myth.

The Iranian head of state has caused international outrage by publicly doubting the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis, and calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map".

"The conference to discuss the Holocaust will be held in Tehran this spring," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told a weekly news conference, without giving a precise date.

"There are some unanswered questions about the scale of the Holocaust which should be discussed," he said.

Asefi did not say who would attend but invited British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who this week described the idea of the conference as "shocking, ridiculous, stupid".

Blair has said Ahmadinejad, a former Revolutionary Guardsman elected president by a landslide in June, should visit Europe and "see the evidence of the Holocaust himself".

Asefi accused the West of making an unnecessary fuss about the proposed Foreign Ministry-sponsored conference.

"Why are some Western countries so worried about it? Such remarks are against freedom of thought," he said. "I suggest Blair make a presentation at this conference in Tehran.

"We will give him the time to express his views ... he can defend the Holocaust if he wants to do so."

Regarding Blair's suggestion that Ahmadinejad visit Europe to see evidence of the Holocaust, Asefi said: "We have to see when the president Ahmadinejad has time for it."

Iran to hold Holocaust conference despite furor

[Shammu]

Hamas Is Resolute On Fighting Israel
Militants to Form Army, Leader Says

By Rhonda Roumani and Scott Wilson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, January 29, 2006; Page A21

DAMASCUS, Syria, Jan. 28 -- Days after Hamas's victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections, the group's exiled political leader vowed Saturday to continue its confrontation with Israel and suggested that the radical Islamic movement would turn its military wing into a national army for defensive reasons "like any other country."

"As long as we are under occupation then it is our right to resist," Khaled Meshal, who lives here in Syria's capital, said at a news conference. He was seated before images of Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque, the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Sheik Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi, assassinated leaders of Hamas

Meshal added that as long as Israel targets Palestinians, Hamas would continue to target Israelis.

The comments marked Meshal's first formal statement since Hamas won a huge majority in the Palestinians' next parliament, throwing the political system into uncertainty. They came on a day when young activists from the defeated Fatah movement, whose monopoly on political power ended with Hamas's triumph, demonstrated in several West Bank cities and in the Gaza Strip.

Early in the day, Fatah gunmen briefly occupied the parliament buildings in Gaza City and Ramallah, in the West Bank, although the legislature was not in session. In Nablus, roughly 2,000 Fatah members, some firing weapons into the air, marched through the streets, angry at their party's leadership for the election defeat.

Hamas, formally known as the Islamic Resistance Movement, is designated a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority's president and leader of Fatah, has said he will invite Hamas to form the next cabinet.

Meshal said Saturday that he would consult with Abbas in the coming days in the hopes of forming a "national partnership." Fatah leaders, however, have said they would not participate in a Hamas cabinet.

Officials from the Bush administration, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations are scheduled to meet Monday to begin discussing whether to continue funding a Palestinian government that will include Hamas in a prominent role.

Israel and the Bush administration have demanded that Hamas renounce violence, recognize the Jewish state and disarm its military wing before joining the government.

"I say to the American administration and to the Europeans and to the international community who are asking us to stop the resistance -- or as they call it, terrorism -- that if they don't like the way our armed groups look, we are ready to unify them with the consensus of all Palestinians and make them an army like any other country," said Meshal.

Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, said, "Hamas shouldn't be playing verbal gymnastics."

"If they want people to see them as a legitimate part of a political process, it is very clear what they must do," Regev said. "First and foremost, they must renounce terrorism and disarm. And secondly, they have to support peace and accept Israel's right to exist."

Meshal said he had received calls from the leaders of Yemen, Qatar and Syria and from religious figures throughout the Muslim world to congratulate Hamas on its victory. He also called for a larger European role in mediating the conflict with Israel and said the group would be willing to open a dialogue with the United States provided it was not based only on U.S. terms.

He asked the world to respect the democratic choice of the Palestinian people, whom he called an example for the Arab and Muslim world, and not to penalize the elected government by cutting off aid.

"The world raised the slogan of democracy, and now it should respect the results of democracy," Meshal said. "If you want to punish the Palestinian people for practicing democracy, then the American administration should punish Americans for choosing President Bush."

Hamas Is Resolute On Fighting Israel

[Shammu]

Arab neighbors will work with Hamas-led cabinet
Mon Jan 30, 2006 9:01 AM ET166

 By Jonathan Wright-Analysis

CAIRO (Reuters) - All the Arab governments around Israel will deal directly with a Palestinian cabinet dominated by the militant Islamist group Hamas, ignoring U.S. and European attempts to isolate the group, analysts said on Monday.

The Egyptian and Syrian governments already have good working relationships with Hamas, although some of their main domestic opponents are Islamists, and would accept a possible role as intermediaries between Hamas and the West, they added.

Egypt may press Hamas to make concessions to demands that it recognize Israel and abandon armed struggle but it will also use Hamas's surprise election victory to argue for changes in U.S. and European policy in the Middle East, they said.

Hamas won a big majority in the Palestinian parliament last week, based on popular frustration with the Fatah movement which has dominated Palestinian politics since the late 1960s.

Arab countries have made few official comments since Hamas's defeat of Fatah, founded by Yasser Arafat and traditionally seen in the Arab world as representing the Palestinian cause.

However, Fatah had gained a reputation for corruption and incompetence and failed to persuade Israel and the United States to deliver on promises of Palestinian statehood.

The analysts said it was Syria, the most aggressively secular government in the region, that had most to gain from the shift in Palestinian politics, because Hamas's success strengthens an embryonic front opposed to U.S. policies.

"GOOD NEWS FOR SYRIA"

The front includes Hamas, Syria, Iran, Hizbollah in Lebanon and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, which inspired Hamas and itself made strong electoral gains in elections last year.

Islamists also dominate the Iraqi government, in uneasy alliance with the U.S. military on whom they depend.

"One link in the siege against Syria has been broken... Hamas's victory is good news for Syria," said Mohammad Habash, a prominent Islamist lawmaker in Syria.

Syria has been on the ropes internationally for the past year after the successful campaign to make it withdraw troops from Lebanon and the U.N. inquiry into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

"The Syrian regime is glad (that Hamas won) because this strengthens the alliance of resistance to the Israeli and American scheme. It gives them a little boost," said Hassan Nafaa, professor of political science at Cairo University and a prominent political commentator.

"Syria is going to be very much encouraged. It will see it as a way of enhancing its own position," added Walid Kazziha, political scientist at the American University in Cairo.

King Abdullah of Jordan, on the other hand, is the major loser in the region, because he has burned many of his bridges with Hamas and faces a domestic Islamist opposition closely linked to the Palestinian movement, the analysts said.

"Jordan is a candidate for change, and I think they are next," said Kazziha, referring to the possibility of Islamists making strong gains in the next Jordanian elections.

EGYPT FAVOURED FATAH

The Egyptian government, which traditionally favored Fatah and its late leader Yasser Arafat, can adapt to Hamas more easily because the Egyptian state is so strong and the level of contact between ordinary Egyptians and Palestinians is lower.

Abdel Raouf el-Reedy, chairman of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Relations, said: "Egypt is a different story... I don't see the same thing happening in Egypt as in Palestine."

In Egypt's first public reaction to the Hamas victory, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif told Newsweek that Hamas should "work within the framework" of the Oslo agreement of 1993, the peace plan known as the road map and a two-state solution.

Reedy, who was Egyptian ambassador to the United States, said he expected Cairo to work for a reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, as well as helping persuade Hamas to change its rhetoric on recognition of Israel.

"They (Hamas) will have to move in that direction and Egypt will help with that," he told Reuters.

But other analysts said Hamas would not buy the argument unless Israel made significant concessions toward a territorial compromise acceptable to a majority of Palestinians.

The Palestinians have learned from Fatah's negotiating experience over the past 10 years not to take U.S. and Israeli promises very seriously, they added.

"Egypt has to tell the Israelis and the Americans ... it is about time to say exactly where you want to go, what kind of Palestinian state you want to establish," Nafaa said.
Arab neighbors will work with Hamas-led cabinet

[Shammu]

Masked Gunmen Briefly Take Over EU Office

By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer Mon Jan 30, 9:21 AM ET

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Masked gunmen on Monday briefly took over a European Union office to protest a Danish newspaper's publication of cartoons deemed insulting to Islam's Prophet Muhammad, the latest in a wave of violent denunciations of the caricatures across the Islamic world.

The gunmen demanded an apology from Denmark and Norway, and said citizens of the two countries would be prevented from entering the Gaza Strip.

"We are calling on the citizens of the two countries to take this threat seriously because our cells are ready to implement this all over Gaza," one militant said.

The 12 drawings — published in September by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten and republished in a Norwegian paper this month — included an image of the prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse. Islamic tradition bars any depiction of the prophet, even respectful ones, out of concern that such images could lead to idolatry.

The cartoons have touched off protests, flag burnings and boycotts of Danish products throughout the Muslim world. On Sunday, Palestinian protesters burned Danish flags in two West Bank towns.

In Monday's violence, the gunmen burst into the EU office, then withdrew several minutes later. A group of about 15 masked men, armed with hand grenades, automatic weapons and anti-tank launchers, remained outside, keeping the offices closed. No shots were fired, and there were no reports of injuries.

The gunmen left the building after about half an hour.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent group linked to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party, claimed responsibility. Al Aqsa has been involved in much of the recent chaos plaguing Gaza.

Jyllands-Posten has refused to apologize for the drawings, citing freedom of speech. The drawings were reprinted on Jan. 10 by Norwegian evangelical newspaper Magazinet in the name of defending free expression, renewing Muslim anger.

Masked Gunmen Briefly Take Over EU Office

My note; And yet the muslims have no problem insulting Christians.