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Russia tells Hamas to recognize Israel

Posted on: Friday, 3 March 2006, 13:02 CST

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Palestinian election winner Hamas must recognize Israel's right to exist and abide by interim peace deals with the Jewish state, Russia told the militant group during the first day of talks on Friday.

Shunned by Israel and the United States, Hamas hoped to gain a measure of international standing from the Moscow talks, its first with a major foreign power since winning Palestinian parliamentary elections on January 25.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had insisted all demands made by the Quartet of Middle East mediators -- Russia, the United Nations, United States and European Union -- must be respected.

"That means above all the need to stick by all existing agreements, the need to recognize the right of Israel to exist as a partner in negotiations (and) the need to reject all armed methods of settling political questions," the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying after talks with Hamas leaders.

Earlier, Lavrov said "our Palestinian friends can count on the support of Russia" if they complied.

But even before its first meetings in Moscow, Hamas dimmed hopes of any breakthrough by saying it was firm in its refusal to recognize Israel. Its charter calls for Israel's destruction.

"Hamas maintains a red line: that we do not recognize and will not recognize the Zionist entity," Mohammed Nazzal, a senior official accompanying exiled Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal, told Reuters.

Asked later by reporters about Russia's demand that Hamas abide by interim peace deals, Meshaal was non-committal.

"Our clear position is that we will deal with existing agreements according to the interests of the Palestinian people," he said.

Faced with a threatened freeze in Western aid to the Palestinian Authority, Meshaal said Hamas was offering "guarantees" to potential donors that their money would not be used by the militant group.

"It will go to the Palestinian people and it will not go to Hamas's budget," Meshaal said.

The Moscow talks are expected to last for three days.

Although the visit was a setback for U.S.-Israeli efforts to isolate Hamas, Russia's mediation was seen by some in the West as a chance to push the group toward a more moderate stance.

PUTIN IN CONTACT WITH ISRAEL

Israeli interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he had received assurances from Russian President Vladimir Putin that Moscow would "limit contacts" with Hamas, a leading force in a Palestinian uprising that erupted in 2000.

"We have to retain the international front that Israel has built up over the principles we have set out," Olmert told members of his Kadima party, referring to demands Hamas renounce violence, recognize Israel and abide by interim peace deals.

Israel holds its own elections on March 28.

Hamas, which has already met Arab states, viewed the talks as a chance to advance its position on the world stage. Israeli officials cautioned that the Russia meeting could prompt other countries to recognize Hamas.

In Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas's choice for Palestinian prime minister, said a Hamas delegation would visit Saudi Arabia after Russia, and then South Africa "when the time is set."

Hamas is seeking funding to keep the Palestinian Authority running after Israel cut off vital tax revenues this month.

It has staged 60 suicide bombings during the Palestinian revolt but has largely abided by a truce declared a year ago.

While so far ruling out permanent coexistence, the group has said it could accept a long-term ceasefire if Israel quits all the occupied West Bank and meets other demands.

"There can be no peace, no stability as long as occupation and aggression continue," Meshaal said.

(Additional reporting by Richard Balmforth in Moscow)

Source: REUTERS

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