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Abbas: World should give Hamas a chance to moderate
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-03-09 08:46
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday the world should give
the militant Islamic group Hamas a chance to moderate as it prepares to form a
government.
Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas meets a delegation of Palestinian women at his
office in Palestinian Authority headquarters in the West Bank city of
Ramallah on March 7, 2006. [Reuters] |
Abbas
said Hamas must change its policies. But he also appealed to the international
community to keep up financial support for the Palestinians and respect the
results of democratic elections on January 25 that brought Hamas to power.
"(Hamas) is in power now and there are international commitments they are
expected to deal with," Abbas said at a news conference with visiting Slovenian
President Janez Drnovsek in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
"However, we must not push them to make a sudden transformation from the
extreme right to the extreme left. We must wait and give them this chance (to
transform)."
Hamas trounced Abbas' Fatah movement in the elections partly on an
anti-corruption platform. Abbas has asked Hamas to form a government, which is
expected to be installed within weeks.
Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, has rejected calls by
Abbas and the international community to recognize Israel and to respect
previous Palestinian peace accords with the Jewish state.
Fatah believes in a negotiated settlement with Israel to end occupation.
Palestinian officials close to Abbas said despite the wide gap between Abbas'
political views and those of Hamas, he would try to find a way to work with
Hamas and delay what they called an inevitable confrontation.
According to Palestinian law, Abbas can use his powers to overturn laws
passed by a Hamas government.
But in an early challenge to Abbas, Hamas curtailed his powers to appoint
some judges earlier this week in one of the militant group's first acts in the
new parliament.
LEADERSHIP
Western diplomats told Reuters the United States and some European states
were disappointed with Abbas' leadership and had lost confidence in his ability
to counter Hamas. They expressed skepticism at his view that Hamas would
moderate over time.
Israeli political sources said it would be a waste of time to negotiate any
peace deal with Abbas himself if it would be rejected by a Hamas-dominated
parliament.
The Jewish state says it will not negotiate with Hamas, which has
masterminded nearly 60 suicide bombings against Israelis since a Palestinian
uprising began in 2000.
Abbas has accused Israel of freezing peace talks and said its unilateral acts
had undermined chances of any resumption.
In a bid to isolate Hamas, Israel has severed all contacts with the
Palestinians and frozen some $55 million in tax revenue transfers to the
Palestinian Authority.
Palestinians depend on foreign aid totaling more than $1 billion a year.
International donors say they will stop direct payments to the Authority once
a Hamas government takes over unless it recognizes Israel, renounces violence
and accepts existing agreements with the Jewish state.
Abbas appealed to foreign donors to refrain from "punishing the Palestinian
people for their democratic choice."
Slovenia's Drnovsek said aid must continue to stop the Authority from
collapsing. He asked Hamas to recognize Israel and respect the demands of the
international community "otherwise it will have no partners."
"If aid stops, if the administration collapses, there
will be chaos. It will be a catastrophic scenario," Drnovsek
said.
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