Peres with Store
Photo: Yisrael Noy
Norway confirms severing ties with Hamas
Foreign minister tells President Peres that Palestinian group has strong links to Muslim Bortherhood in Egypt, Hizbullah in Lebanon and possibly al-Qaeda
"Norway severed its ties with Hamas," Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store confirmed Monday in Jerusalem.
Store made the announcement during his meeting with President Shimon Peres, who censured Oslo for having been the first capital to open diplomatic channels with the Islamic group last March.
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Peres added that speaking with Hamas would be interpreted as approval of its violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in June.
Norway decided to back out of an international boycott of a Hamas-led government last March after the Islamic group agreed to form a national unity government with rivals Fatah.
Store said Hamas had strong links to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Hizbullah in Lebanon and possibly al-Qaeda.
On the Iranian front, Peres asked Norway's backing for US-led efforts to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions through economic sanctions.
"The biggest threat to world peace is nuclear terror and therefore we need to do everything possible, through economic sanctions, to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons," Peres told Store.
