France signals easing conditions for Hamas talks
France signaled on Tuesday that it might be prepared to hold talks with Hamas even if the Palestinian Islamist group does not recognize Israel as Paris and other Western powers have demanded for years.
The Quartet of Middle East mediators has said there can be no dealings with Hamas until it recognizes Israel, renounces violence and accepts existing interim peace deals. French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier, however, said that renouncing violence was the most important of those three conditions, an apparent shift in France's position. (Reuters)
