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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: paret who wrote (10059)	10/1/2005 1:40:22 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

Israel and Turkey are natural allies, because both are the enemies of Syria.

To: paret who wrote (10059)	10/1/2005 7:25:03 PM
From: Scoobah	Read Replies (12) \| Respond to of 32591

Rice: Hamas must disarm before entering Palestinian politics By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday that Hamas cannot remain an armed organization and participate in the political process in the Palestinian Authority. Speaking at Princeton University's celebration of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in Princeton, New Jersey, Rice said, "Hamas is a terror organization and it has to be disbanded, both for the sake of peace and security in the Middle East and for the sake of the proper functioning of the Palestinian Authority. After all, under the road map, the Palestinian Authority has undertaken to disband militias and armed resistance groups." Rice also noted, however, that Palestinians must be given time to arrange their internal political affairs. Advertisement The secretary of state's statements were met with satisfaction in Jerusalem. In all recent talks with foreign diplomats, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom have demanded that Hamas be prevented from participating in Palestine Legislative Council elections as long as it has not disarmed and revoked its charter calling for Israel's destruction. A senior government source said it was believed Abbas would have to call off the elections to prevent a head-on clash with Hamas. According to Rice, "There are periods of time of transition in which one has to give some space to the participants, in this case the Palestinians, to begin to come to a new national compact. But I cannot imagine, in the final analysis, a new national compact that leaves an armed resistance group within the political space. You cannot simultaneously keep an option open on politics and an option on violence. There simply isn't a case that I can think of internationally where that's been permitted to happen." The U.S. administration had previously avoided taking a clear stand against Hamas' participation in the PLC elections, giving rise to speculation that the U.S. had softened its stand on the organization; and Rice had other U.S. officials had been critical of Sharon's statements that Israel would disrupt elections in the West Bank if Hamas took part. Comparing the situation with Northern Ireland, Rice noted, "In the Good Friday Agreement, it was understood that when Sinn Fein came into politics, eventually the IRA would disarm, and perhaps, hopefully, that process is now underway." With regard to Afghanistan she said, "We did not permit the Afghan warlords to keep their weapons and participate as candidates in politics." According to Rice, "It is absolutely the case that you cannot have armed groups ultimately participating in politics with no expectation that they're going to disarm. "Hamas," she continued, "stands for a one-state solution, not a two-state solution. Hamas therefore stands for the destruction of Israel. Hamas is an organization that asks Palestinian mothers and fathers to give their children up to make themselves suicide bombers. And it is a real detriment and block to further peace in the Middle East." Sharon brought up the matter of Hamas and the Palestinian elections with the new U.S. Ambassador, Dick Jones, in a get-acquainted meeting Thursday in Jerusalem. After the meeting, officials said they were under the impression that the United States opposed Hamas' participation in the elections. Former minister Natan Sharansky met in Washington last week Rice, telling her that he was concerned that shoring up Abbas would be at the expense of internal freedom in the Palestinian Authority. European Union officials dealing with the Middle East last week also discussed Hamas' participation in the PLC elections. No decisions were made, and France said the Palestinians had to decide for themselves whether Hamas should be in the government, and there should be no interference. Great Britain proposed that Abbas present "entry requirements" for Hamas.