Democracy has some beautiful results, does it not?
***Hamas has won office and Britain accepts the winners. ***
But a senior Israeli army commander in the West Bank told me recently that he would deal with all Palestinian mayors - even if they were from the Islamic movement.
Re: British government starts talks with Hamas
Democracy rules, huh?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050616/wl_nm/mideast_hamas_dc&printer=1
**Hamas says its mayors met European Union diplomats **
Hamas said on Thursday that European Union diplomats had met some of its newly elected mayors, an apparent shift in the EU’s position toward the Palestinian group it designates a terrorist organization. Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri’s comments coincided with an Israeli newspaper report that the EU had given some low-level diplomats permission to meet representatives of the group’s political wing. There was no immediate comment from the 25-nation EU, based in Brussels. Masri said the mayors, elected in local council polls over the past several months, had discussed international assistance and the current de facto ceasefire with Israel with EU diplomats in recent meetings.
“Hamas is open to dialogue with all countries except the Zionist enemy, which occupies the land and kills our people,” Masri said. Hamas, which advocates Israel’s destruction, has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings during a Palestinian uprising that began in 2000. In an unsourced report, the Haaretz daily said the EU decision had surprised the United States – a co-sponsor with the EU, Russia and the United Nations of a Middle East peace “road map” – and raised Israeli concerns. The United States also classifies Hamas as a terrorist group. Israel rejects any contacts with Hamas.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw disclosed last week that diplomats from his country had met officials from Hamas’s political wing on two occasions. He said Britain would not have contacts with Hamas leaders until the group renounced violence. Diplomats in Washington have said the United States is showing signs of easing its hardline approach toward Hamas in response to the group’s growing political influence. But the White House insisted there has been no change.