'Hamas will not yield to international economic pressure'

A senior Hamas official today brushed aside warnings that Western aid to the Palestinians could dry up because of the militants’ hardline stand on Israel, saying the Islamic group would not bow to international pressure.

“Cutting off funds now will be a punishment of the Palestinian people, not of Hamas,” said Mohammed Nazzal, member of Hamas’ decision-making political bureau, which is based in Damascus, Syria.

“If the European Union countries and the American administration see this as a means that could lead to a change in Hamas’ strategic position then they are dreaming and are mistaken. Hamas will never accept that,” he said in an interview with Al-Arabiya TV.

But another Hamas leader in the Palestinian territories asked the international community not to cut aid to the Palestinian Authority. Ismail Hanniyeh promised in Gaza that the money would only go towards helping the Palestinians and said a Hamas government is ready to have its spending monitored.

Hamas’ upset victory over the mainstream Fatah faction, which ran the Palestinian Authority, came as a shock to many countries involved in the Middle East peace process. Hamas is responsible for dozens of suicide bombings that have killed hundreds of Israelis.

Financial aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian government has been viewed as one means for Western governments to modify Hamas policy.

The US has led efforts for peace in the 57-year-old Arab-Israeli conflict, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday ruled out any US financial assistance to a Hamas government. She said she wants other nations to cut off aid to a Hamas-led Palestinian government.

Hamas is considered a terrorist group by the US and Israel. It is also on an lacklist of terrorist groups. The group refuses to disarm or recognise Israel, though it has hinted that it could reach a long-term truce or other accommodation with the Jewish state.

Since a ceasefire declaration last February, Hamas has not claimed involvement in any suicide attacks.

On Saturday, Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal sought to calm international concerns, declaring the group would abide by existing agreements that are “in the interest of our people.” But Mashaal refused to disarm or denounce violence against Israelis and called for a partnership with other Palestinian factions.

EU diplomats said foreign ministers from the 25 member states were expected at a meeting in Brussels today to call on Hamas to drop its militant wing and to recognise the state of Israel. The ministers are also expected to issue a declaration “stressing that violence and terror are not compatible with democratic processes.”

Nazzal said Hamas’ overtures apparently were not appreciated.

“It is clear that various parties do not see any (Hamas) position in a positive light. They do not want flexibility. They want concessions,” he said. “They want Hamas to change its strategy and this cannot be accomplished because what is required is that the Palestinian people give up its right to resist the occupation.”

Piling up the pressure on Hamas, a prominent Fatah legislator called on the militants modify their position.

“Out of keenness for the interest of the Palestinian people ... Hamas must be part of the international and Arab legitimacy and accept the commitments of the (Palestinian) Authority,” said Saeb Erekat, who for years was Palestinian negotiator with Israel.

“Hamas must exercise its responsibilities before the Palestinian people and begin changing and reforming itself. This is what is required now before Israel and America take advantage of their win,” he said on Al-Arabiya television.

As part of the effort to deal with the new situation in the Palestinian government, Rice was meeting other members of the so-called Quartet of would-be Mideast peacemakers today. The group includes the US, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.

“The US is not prepared to fund an organisation that advocates the destruction of Israel, that advocates violence and that refuses its obligations,” under an international framework for eventual Mideast peace, Rice said yesterday.