US would make it 'enormously difficult' for Hamas to govern

UNITED STATES: The United States wants to isolate Hamas financially and politically to make it "enormously difficult" for the radical Palestinian group to govern, the US envoy for the Middle East said.

David Welch, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, told US lawmakers Washington is trying to dissuade governments from meeting with leaders of Hamas, which won January Palestinian elections and is considered a terrorist group by the United States and European Union.

"We urge them against contact because in our view, isolation and pressure have to be the words of the moment," Welch said.

The US strategy is to "make their function as a government enormously difficult," Welch said.

"If nevertheless they were to have such contacts ... we bring to their attention the Quartet statement," he said.

The Quartet for Middle East peace - the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia - has urged Hamas to abandon violence, recognize Israel and embrace the diplomatic "roadmap" to peace.

That blueprint to peace envisions an independent Palestinian nation existing side by side with the Jewish state.

Welch also said the United States received Wednesday about 30 million dollars of the 50 million dollars in direct aid that it had asked the Palestinian Authority to return, fearing that it would fall into the hands of Hamas.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice failed during a Middle East trip last month to mobilize Arab states to isolate Hamas.

Saudi Arabia said it would continue its financial help to the Palestinian Authority, while Egypt said Hamas should be given time.

Meanwhile Hamas embarks on a quest for international legitimacy on Friday with an official visit to Russia, marking the Islamic militant group's first talks with a major power involved in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

Although it deals a blow to U.S.-led efforts to isolate Hamas since it swept Palestinian elections in January, Russia's mediation is seen by some in the West as a chance to talk the faction into renouncing violence and recognising Israel.

In Israel, the Russian overtures toward Hamas drew denunciations at first. But the Jewish state has adopted a wait-and-see attitude since Russia emphasised it was sticking to the view of international mediators.

The United States said Russia must put pressure on Hamas to change its ideology.

"Our position is that if you are going to meet with a terrorist group, you should make it clear to them that their way of doing business is unacceptable, that their philosophy is contrary to the norms of the civilized world, and that they should get with the programme," State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said.

Hamas, regards the visit as a chance to push its position on the international stage.

"We will listen to the Russian government's vision on the Arab-Israeli conflict and we will clarify our own vision," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said on Thursday.

"The visit in itself is a declaration of the failure of pressure exerted by the United States on the world to besiege Hamas," he said.

"Now Hamas is on the threshold of international legitimacy, thanks to the visit by Hamas leaders to Moscow."

Washington, Moscow Friday AFP