Rice urges Russians to take tough stand on Hamas
Rice urges Russia to send a clear, strong message in any meetings with Hamas officials that terror group must stop attacks on Israel. Mofaz tells NATO conference ‘Hamas victory in PA elections not democratic triumph, but a defeat for the forces of peace in the region’
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Friday to send a clear, strong message in any meetings with Hamas officials that the terror group must stop terror attacks on Israel.
In response, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, Russian officials offered assurances that "they will send this very clear, strong signal" adopted by Russia along with the United States, the United Nations and the European Union in a joint statement approved in response to Hamas' strong showing in Palestinian parliamentary elections.
Speaking before NATO heads and defense ministers from six Arab countries in Sicily on Friday, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said “I call on the international community to refrain from holding talks with Hamas and adopt a unified stance that prevents any dialogue with terror organizations.”
“Hamas’ victory in the elections is not the triumph of democracy, but a defeat for the forces of peace in the region,” Mofaz said.
“Israel will not accept a government composed of a terror organization which calls for its destruction.”
As to the Iranian nuclear threat, Mofaz said “only a firm and unified stance can overcome Iran, which threatens stability and world peace.”
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told reporters that “contacts with Hamas are out of the question, impossible,” adding that the group’s victory in the Palestinian elections has thwarted NATO’s plans to improve relations with the PA.
'Russia maintaining contacts with Hamas'
Earlier France expressed its support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invite Hamas leaders to Moscow, but stressed that the terror group must disarm and recognize Israel.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Denis Simonneau said Russia did not consult its international partners about its initiative. But “We believe that it is an initiative that can contribute to advancing our positions,” he added.
On Thursday Putin said that he intends on inviting the leaders of the Palestinian terror group to Moscow.
Russia’s leader was quoted as telling a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in Madrid, where he was on a visit, that "Russia is maintaining contacts with the Hamas organization and intends in the near future to invite the leadership of this organization to Moscow."
Backward step?
Putin reiterated that Russia does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization, and urged the global community to work with a Hamas-led Palestinian government.
"Hamas has arrived at the doors of power through legitimate elections," Putin said. "We must respect the Palestinian people and we have to look for solutions for the Palestinian people, for the international community, and also for Israel. Contacts with Hamas must continue.”
In an interview with the New York Sun, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni warned that some members of the international community were attempting to compromise with Hamas.
"There is a tendency sometimes among some in the international community to try and understand, to reach agreements, to take a backward step," said the foreign minister.
Meanwhile, Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu forwarded a letter to Putin asking that he retract his decision to invite Hamas leaders to Moscow.
“The decision constitutes the legitimization of Hamas, even though the group is defined as a terror group by Russian federal law,” Netanyahu said in the letter.
“The decision to welcome a murderous organization in Moscow will ignite a process of legitimization for international Islamic terror, which threatens all of mankind.”
Officials at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem expressed their shock Thursday evening following Putin's statement.
Putin's move is considered by Israel as a breach of the international circle of agreement regarding Hamas. Following the PA elections and talks held by Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni with state leaders and foreign ministers, it appeared that Russia would act according to the same understandings.
According to the understandings, there would be no dialogue with Hamas before it renounces terror and disarms, and until Hamas recognizes Israel and stops calling for its destruction and commits to all of the agreements signed between Israel and the PA since the Oslo agreement in 1993.
The news of Putin's offer brought a sharp reaction also from the United States. An American official even asked how the Russians would react should the U.S. invite leaders of the Chechen rebels to visit Washington.
The State department said Thursday that Washington will demand clarifications from Russia about its intention to invite Hams leaders for talks in Moscow.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington expected Russia to uphold international demands that Hamas give up armed resistance and recognize Israel's right to exist.
"At this point we have sought some clarification from the Russians as to what exactly their intentions are, what their plans are," McCormack said.
Ilan Marciano, news agencies contributed to the report
