US and Israel warn Abbas against Hamas power deal

By Wafa Amr and Mohammed Assadi

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Hamas made a strong showing
in Palestinian elections, exit polls showed, prompting U.S. and
Israeli warnings to President Mahmoud Abbas that peace efforts
could be wrecked if he shared power with the Islamists.

The vote on Wednesday in the first Palestinian
parliamentary polls for a decade made it possible Hamas, whose
charter calls for Israel’s destruction and whose members have
been behind suicide bombings, could win cabinet posts in a
coalition deal.

The electoral commission said official results were
expected to emerge from about 10 a.m. on Thursday, but three
exit polls put Abbas’s ruling Fatah party ahead by margins of
between only three and seven percentage points. They gave Hamas
35 to 44 percent and the long-dominant Fatah 42 to 47 percent.

Hamas, listed as a terrorist organization by Washington,
was set to win at least 53 of the 132 seats against 58 for
Fatah, potentially even giving it a chance to try to form a
cabinet itself. Turnout was 78 percent of the 1.3 million
voters.

The United States, main sponsor of an international “road
map” for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, said it
would accept the election results as a reflection of the will
of the people but made clear Abbas should keep Hamas in
opposition.

U.S, President George W. Bush said he would not deal with
Hamas unless it renounced seeking Israel’s destruction.

“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 told the Wall Street Journal in an interview.

“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’.”

ISRAELI STANCE

Israel’s acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who took over
from the ailing Ariel Sharon earlier this month, said: “We will
not negotiate with a government that does not keep to its most
basic commitment — fighting terror.”

Abbas, elected a year ago after the death of Yasser Arafat,
the iconic first Palestinian president, said the Palestinian
Authority was ready to resume long-stalled talks with Israel
even if Hamas joined his government.

“We are approaching a new period and we hope that the
international community will help us return to the negotiating
table,” said Abbas, welcoming the peaceful nature of the vote.

Abbas hopes once Hamas enters parliament it might be
prepared to relinquish its weapons.

Despite signals this week that it might be open to indirect
talks with Israel, Hamas said on Wednesday it would not change
its charter or give up its weapons.

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniya told Reuters the group
was studying whether to consider joining any coalition
government.

Both Fatah and Hamas claimed victory and celebrated
noisily. Gaza Strip and West Bank towns filled with the sound
of car horns and bursts of gunfire poured into the night sky.

“Our choice is Islam and we want change as soon as
possible,” Hamas supporter Nidal al-Jaberi said in Hebron.

A few streets away, a gunman, Mohammed Amr, said: “This
result shows that Fatah will always be on top.”

Hamas capitalized on internal Fatah divisions and the
ruling party’s reputation for corruption and mismanagement.

The group, a leading force in a five-year-old Palestinian
uprising for statehood, has largely respected a truce with
Israel for nearly a year.

Voting was orderly despite weeks of armed chaos, notably in
Gaza, that had prompted fears of a delay.

Voters chose from 11 party lists across the Palestinian
areas and more than 400 candidates running locally in the first
parliamentary elections since 1996. About 900 foreign
observers, led by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, were
present.

Israeli troops pulled back from West Bank population
centers to avoid any accusations of interfering in the polls.

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, Allyn
Fisher-Ilan, Jeffrey Heller, Megan Goldin and Tali Caspi in
Jerusalem, Haitham al-Tamimi in Hebron and Saul Hudson in
Washington)