Hamas rejects recognition of Israel despite Russian appeal

RUSSIA: Islamist militant group Hamas rejected Russian appeals for it to recognise Israel or disband its armed wing, senior leaders of the group said on Saturday.

The Moscow visit is the first to a major foreign power by leaders of Hamas, who are forming a new Palestinian government following a landslide win in the Jan. 25 parliamentary elections.

Hamas is hoping to gain a measure of international standing from the three days of talks, opposed by Israel and the United States.

The Hamas charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state. Both the United States and the European Union have branded Hamas a terrorist organisation. But it is popular among Palestinians for charitable works and has a reputation for freedom from corruption.

Hamas deputy political leader Moussa Abu Marzouk told Reuters in an interview that recognising Israel would negate all Palestinian rights.

"It means a negation of the Palestinian people and their rights and their property, of Jerusalem and the holy sites, as well as negation of their right of return. Therefore the recognition of Israel is not on the agenda," Abu Marzouk said.

"We believe that Israel has no right to exist", he added later in remarks to an Arab audience. "Hamas will never take such a step."

On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a Hamas delegation it must recognise Israel's right to exist and abide by interim peace deals, echoing demands made by the United States, the European Union and United Nations.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said he had rejected a bid from Lavrov for Hamas to disband its armed wing and integrate the gunmen into the general Palestinian police force.

"We have made clear to the officials in Russia that the armed wing (of Hamas) will have no role in the internal situation, and will resist the occupation and defend the whole land", Meshaal said.

Abu Marzouk, who is part of the Hamas delegation in Moscow, blasted previous Palestinian accords with Israel and said they did not define the Jewish state's borders.

"I gave the Russian officials a white sheet and I asked them to draw me a map of the Israel they want me to recognise and nobody was able to draw the map," he said.

"Therefore how would you want me to recognise something that is so dangerous to the future of the Palestinian people."

Meshaal repeated a standing offer from Hamas to halt suicide bombings if Israel stops violence against Palestinian civilians. Israel denies targeting civilians, saying it hits militants, and has rejected all but an outright cessation of violence.

Abu Marzouk said the Moscow visit had achieved important results for Hamas, including "breaking the wall of siege" imposed by the United States and Europe since its election win.

"While this collapse in the siege was done in public, there are several countries of the European Union that are secretly holding contacts with Hamas in one way or another," he said without elaborating.

Meanwhile Al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has urged Hamas to fight on and not to accept agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.

Speaking in video footage broadcast Saturday on the Arabic television channel Al-Jazeera, Zawahiri described the agreements as "surrender accords" and called on Hamas, victors in the January 25 Palestinian election, "to continue the armed struggle."

"The surrender accords signed by the lay members of the Palestinian Authority must not be recognized. Your only alternative is to pursue the armed struggle until the liberation of Palestine and the building of an Islamic state," he told Hamas.

Zawahiri called on the Islamist movement not to take up their seats in the parliament, the Palestinian Legislative Council, "with lay people who have sold out Palestine."

He added: "Be aware that these secular people of the Palestinian Authority have sold Palestine and are considered by Islam as criminals. Just because you got 80 seats doesn't mean you have to go along with the political game of the Americans."

MOSCOW, DUBAI, Sunday, REUTERS, AFP