Haaretz
Adar 8, 5767
Hamas' political bureau chief Khaled Meshal has
promised that the militant Palestinian group will end missile attacks and
other violence against Israel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said
Tuesday.
"Hamas should use its authority to stop violence
including missile attacks against Israel," Lavrov said at a news
conference after his meeting with Meshal. "We received confirmation that
such steps will be taken," he added.
However, Meshal said at a
separate news conference that the group is no ready to recognize Israel.
Renouncing violence and recognizing Israel are both key demands of
international peace negotiators.
"First of all, Israel has to end
its occupation of Palestinian territory and put an end to the suffering of
the Palestinian people," Meshal said when asked about the recognition
issue. "When Israel does that, the Palestinian people will make their
position clear."
Lavrov announced before the meeting Moscow is
backing a move to lift an international aid blockade and garner
international support of the new Palestinian Authority power-sharing
arrangement.
Meshal told reporters after the talks that he and
Russian diplomats discussed ways to free Palestinian financial assets in
the United States which have been frozen.
He called on the European
Union and the United Nations to cooperate with and revise the Quartet's
stance and urged Washington to reconsider its position. "If the United
States continues to insist on the blockade of the Palestinian people, that
will only foment hatred of the U.S. policy in the region, not only among
the Palestinians, but all Arabs, all Muslims," he said.
Meshal also
assailed Israel for failing to release Palestinian prisoners -
the
Palestinian condition for the release of captured Israel Defense Forces
soldier Gilad Shalit.
"Israel is wholly responsible for a delay in
the exchange," Meshal said.
EU: No swift end to PA
sanctions
The European Union on Tuesday played down prospects of a
swift resumption of direct aid to the Palestinian Authority, despite
Russia's vow to back the lifting of sanctions.
At the start of a
visit to Israel and the West Bank, EU External Relations Commissioner
Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the joint Fatah-Hamas government should
"respond" to the demands of the Quartet of Middle East
mediators.
Ferrero-Waldner added that the EU was having initial
thoughts about cooperating with the new PA government, but added that the
blockade would be lifted only after a long-term assessment of the new
government's policies and actions. "We will judge this government by its
actions," she added.
Millions of dollars in crucial foreign aid
were cut off after Hamas, which the European Union, United States and
others consider a terrorist group, gained control of the cabinet and the
legislature in January 2006 elections.
The Quartet of Middle East
mediators - which includes Russia, the EU, the United Nations and the U.S.
- has demanded that any new Palestinian government recognize Israel's
right to exist, which Hamas has failed to do.
The EU official's
statement dimmed Palestinian hopes for a quick resumption of direct
assistance despite making preparatory steps for channeling funds to the
cash-strapped Palestinian government.
The European Commission has
already created a plan to renew financial assistance to the Palestinian
Authority if and when a unity government is formed that receives
international recognition.
According to the plan, the details of
which Israel has been informed, the EU will channel its aid to a temporary
mechanism to be used among other things to build up governmental and
institutional capabilities for the future Palestinian state, to build a
judicial system and to assist the PA's regular police force.
Lavrov: Russia to push for lifting sanctions
Only hours
earlier Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said ahead of a meeting
with the head of Hamas' political bureau, Khaled Meshal that Moscow would
act to lift international sanctions on the Palestinians.
"Russia
favors the agreement between Hamas and the Fatah group to share power
because it shows wisdom, reason and responsibility before the Palestinian
people," he said.
"We are pushing for all members of the
international community to support this process and make it irreversible,
including efforts to lift the blockade," Lavrov added.
Meshal's
Moscow visit reflected the Kremlin's position that negotiations - rather
than sanctions - are the best way to deal with Hamas. Russia, which has
been clamoring for a greater role in the Middle East, has been more
positive about the unity government plan than Washington and the European
Union.
"The Russian leadership supported forming such government
from the very start," Lavrov said. "We have consistently backed specific
steps which helped make this process successful, and we shall continue
acting like that."
"The Mecca meeting was also important because it
opened the way toward the resumption of the peace process between the
Palestinians and Israel," he added.
Meshal thanked Russia for
taking "brave steps to host us."
"We highly value Russia's stance
... in support of the national accord between the Palestinians and lifting
of the blockade," he said at the start of his talks with
Lavrov.
Like Russia, France has also signaled it might support
lifting the aid embargo placed on the PA. French President Jacques Chirac
on Sunday said he would ask the EU, at a summit in March, to support plans
for a unity government.
Political sources in Jerusalem have said
the establishment of the new unity government may raise disputes within
Europe, with the United Kingdom and Germany favoring standing by the U.S.
position, and Italy, Spain and France likely to call for the thawing of
relations with the PA and the renewal of aid.