Bush: US won't work with Hamas

2006-01-30 20:20

Washington - US President George W Bush reaffirmed on Monday that he will not work with a Palestinian government led by Hamas unless the group renounces violence against Israel and dissolves its armed wing.

"The Hamas Party has made it clear that they do not support the right of Israel to exist.

"And I have made it clear, so long as that's their policy, that we will not support a Palestinian government made up of Hamas," he said.

One week after Hamas won a decisive victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections, Bush said the group's pledges to provide services to the Palestinians and battle corruption were "positive".

"But what isn't positive is that they've got parts of their platform that will make it impossible for them to be a peaceful partner," the president said as he met with his cabinet one day before his annual state of the union speech.

"We want to work with a government that is a partner in peace, not a government whose declared intentions might be the destruction of Israel," said Bush.

"This new democracy that's emerging in the Palestinian territories must understand that you can't have a political party that also has got an armed wing to it," he said.

- AFP