US says it will not dictate to Palestinians on Hamas

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Bush administration believes the
Palestinian militant group Hamas is a terrorist organization
but will not try to dictate to the Palestinians that Hamas
should be barred from upcoming parliamentary elections, a
senior administration official said on Friday.

The position puts Washington at odds with the Israeli
stance and calls into question Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon’s suggestion that he would impede voting in the West
Bank unless Hamas stays out.

“Our views on Hamas are well known. Hamas is a terrorist
organization. We will not deal with a terrorist organization.
However, we believe that it’s up to the Palestinians to
determine who will participate in their election,” the senior
administration official said.

Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic militant group sworn to
Israel’s destruction, has spearheaded suicide bombings and
rocket attacks during an uprising since 2000.

Hamas plans to challenge the Fatah group of Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas in legislative elections in January for
the first time, a move Israel opposes.

Abbas met President George W. Bush at the White House on
Thursday. At a joint news conference, Bush did not publicly
back Israel’s demand that Hamas be banned from the ballot
unless it renounces violence.

“We are not going to write election laws for the
Palestinians,” the senior official said. “This is their
election. They will determine who the participants are.”

However, the official noted of Hamas: “They’re terrorists.
Armed groups operating inside a democratic state are
antithetical to the building of a democracy.”

U.S. officials and diplomats have said that any shift in
policy was pragmatic: Hamas-funded social services are popular
with many Palestinians; it is winning local races and could
make a strong showing in the parliamentary elections. Some
Hamas-backed politicians and affiliates are seen as moderates.

European allies, including Britain and France, have been
pushing behind the scenes for Washington to drop its call to
dismantle Hamas completely.