Haaretz
Shvat 20, 5766
Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice cautioned Iran and other Middle East powers on Friday of the
consequences for the region of giving money to a Palestinian government
led by Hamas.
She also expressed doubt that the militant Islamic
group could raise badly needed international financing unless it changes
its policies.
"I would hope that any state that is considering
funding Hamas, a Hamas-led government, would think about the implications
of that for the Middle East" and for the goal of peace between Israel and
the Palestinians, Rice said.
In an interview with a panel of Arab
journalists, Rice delivered a new and blunt warning to Iran.
"Iran
has its own troubles with the international community, and it might want
to think twice about enhancing those troubles" by bankrolling Hamas, Rice
said.
The United States considers Hamas a terrorist group and Iran
a patron of terrorism. It has no official dealings with either. Hamas just
won a parliamentary election in the Palestinian territories and is to be
sworn in this weekend.
Rice's trip to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the
United Arab Emirates next week is expected to be dominated by discussion
of Hamas' surprise election victory and the separate issue of Iran's
disputed nuclear program.
Her itinerary excludes Jerusalem and the
West Bank headquarters of the Palestinian Authority. Visits there would be
awkward due to uncertainty over the makeup of the new Palestinian
government and the unsettled political situation in Israel caused by Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke and that country's coming elections.
In the meanwhile, the United States has asked the Palestinian
Authority to return $50 million in U.S.
aid as part of a review of all U.S. aid for the
Palestinians which began soon after the militant group Hamas' surprise win
in elections last month.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack
said the caretaker government of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas had agreed to
return the $50 million, which was given to the PA last year for
infrastructure projects after Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and parts of
the West Bank.
"In the interests of seeing that these funds not
potentially make their way into the coffers of a future Palestinian
government (made up of Hamas) ... we have asked for it to be returned and
the Palestinian Authority has agreed," McCormack told reporters.
The
United States and Israel have ruled out direct funding for a Hamas-led
government, but Rice reiterated Friday that the United States will
continue to finance humanitarian projects for the Palestinians.
The Palestinian Authority gets most of its approximately $1.9
billion (-1.6 billion) annual budget from overseas sources. Without money
from the United States, Israel and perhaps Europe, a Hamas-led government
would be nearly broke.
Hamas leaders have said they will look
elsewhere for money and are expected to appeal to Arab states and Iran.
"It will be very interesting to see if that $1.9 billion (-1.6
billion) is available," Rice said with evident skepticism.
The top
U.S. diplomat noted that Middle Eastern governments including Egypt,
Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf states have signed on to the
goal of peace.
She implied that those governments should be
pressuring Hamas to renounce violence and accept Israel's right to exist.
Egypt, she said, has been sending Hamas the right message.
"Let me
put it this way," Rice said. "I think there's only one reason for contact
at this point, and that's to make clear what the message is."
Hamas has refused to reconsider its anti-Israel policies since
winning its surprise victory last month. The organization has claimed
responsibility for dozens of suicide bombings against Israel but also has
a successful political arm.
The United States is reviewing all aid
to the Palestinians because of the Hamas victory. Although she again urged
Hamas to change, she did not sound optimistic for a quick turnaround.
The Palestinian Authority still is headed by Chairman Mahmoud
Abbas, whose Fatah Party lost to Hamas in the legislative elections.
Rice said she has no regrets about supporting Palestinian
elections despite the result.
She said the same is true elsewhere in
the Middle East, where elections may yield governments or policies
unfriendly to the United States.
Supporting self-determination,
Rice said, "was the only moral thing to do."
Although protests
spawned by publication of cartoon images of the Prophet Muhammad continued
Friday, that subject did not come up during the interview with outlets
including the Saudi News Agency, Abu Dhabi TV and Al-Arabiya TV.
Rice was also not asked about new photos from the prisoner abuse
scandal at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.