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Hamas ready to 'change manners' after landmark Russia trip
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-03-06 09:25
Islamist militant group Hamas admitted it had to "change its manners" after
winning Palestinian elections but showed no sign of compromise with Israel as it
wrapped up a landmark trip to Russia.
Palestinian Hamas
leader Khaled Meshaal (L) talks with Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
Alexiy II (R) during their meeting in Moscow. Islamist militant group
Hamas admitted it had to "change its manners" after winning Palestinian
elections but showed no sign of compromise with Israel as it wrapped up a
landmark trip to Russia. [AFP] | The comments came
as Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal finished the group's first formal visit to a
major power with a tour of the Kremlin and a meeting with Patriarch Alexei II,
head of the Russian Orthodox Church, who called for talks with Israel.
But despite the softer Hamas tone, acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the talks were a mistake which would
only encourage radical Islamists bent on the destruction of the Jewish state.
"Russia's contacts with Hamas would only encourage the organization not to
make the changes that the international community is demanding of it in order
for it to become a partner for dialogue," Olmert's office said he told Putin in
a phone call.
After three days of insisting that the next move in the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict was up to Israel, Hamas leaders sought to sweeten their rhetoric Sunday
while still rebuffing calls to recognize Israel and renounce violence.
"We don't say 'no' to everything," senior Hamas official Mohammed Nazzal told
AFP here.
"We know that we are in a new phase, a new stage" following Hamas' victory in
the January 25 Palestinian elections, he said.
"Hamas must change its manners. We know that very well. But what we are
saying is that we want a response from the Israelis. If you want Hamas to change
its policies, you must also request that the Israelis change their policies."
Hamas officials described their visit to Russia as a "breakthrough" they
hoped would help the group -- listed as a terrorist organization by Israel, the
United States and Europe -- establish legitimacy on the world stage.
"This visit will encourage many countries to contact Hamas and invite Hamas
to their countries," Nazzal said.
Putin's invitation to Hamas to visit Moscow caught the other three members of
the international Middle East "quartet" of mediators -- the United States, the
European Union and the United Nations -- by surprise.
The high point of the trip was a meeting Friday between the Hamas delegation
and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who made clear after the meeting
that its purpose had been to convey the quartet's expectations of Hamas.
The quartet is insisting that Hamas renounce violence, recognize Israel and
adhere to previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.
Lavrov did not deviate from this line during the meeting, but Hamas officials
said the trip was a successful first step in the group's debut as a legitimate
player on the international political scene.
"We consider this visit a success because it is a first step to talks,"
Nazzal said. "If you want to change things, you must start contacts."
The trip wound up Sunday night when the Hamas delegation met with some 45
ambassadors, mainly from Arab and Muslim nations, a Hamas official said.
"This visit was very important and very successful," Ezzat el-Risheq told AFP
by telephone, adding that the delegation was due to depart very early Monday
morning.
Israeli officials have called Putin's invitation to Hamas a "knife in the
back" but Washington cautiously welcomed the talks Friday as a "useful" way to
underscore the message of the "international community".
Putin has worked the phones heavily since the Friday meeting, placing calls
to his counterparts from Egypt, France, Germany, Italy and the United States to
brief them on the results.
Hamas meanwhile shrugged off a call from Osama bin Laden's deputy in the
Al-Qaeda terrorist network to abandon all accords signed by previous Palestinian
leaders with Israel.
"This is his own opinion," Nazzal said of the statement from Ayman
al-Zawahiri broadcast on the Arabic Al-Jazeera television network.
"He has the right to it. But we are neutral. When Hamas wants to take a
decision or take a stand it will be a step by the leadership of Hamas alone and
will be in the interests of the Palestinian people."
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