'It's clear who Hamas wants'

Washngton - Republican John McCain took a shot at Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Friday, saying he was the candidate for the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

"I think it's very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president of the United States," said McCain, his party's presidential nominee, in a conversation with conservative bloggers.

According to a transcript posted on the website of the Weekly Standard magazine, he said: "I think that people should understand that I will be Hamas's worst nightmare ... If Senator Obama is favoured by Hamas I think people can make judgments accordingly."

Obama says he considers Hamas a terrorist organisation, and he condemned the recent meeting between Democratic former president Jimmy Carter and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal in Damascus.

He sparked controversy by saying he was ready to meet with Iranian, Cuban or North Korea leaders if he is elected president, but said he would not meet with the leaders of Hamas.

Obama also affirmed recently that if elected, he would "work with Israel to isolate terrorist groups like Hamas, target their resources, and support Israel's right and capability to defend itself from any attack".

Obama spokesperson Hari Sevugan took issue with McCain's statements, which also pointed to recent remarks by Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua's leftist president and a US enemy in the 1980s, that Obama's candidacy was a "revolutionary phenomenon".

"We want to take Senator McCain at his word that he wants to run a respectful campaign but (it) is becoming increasingly difficult when he continually tries to use the politics of association and makes claims he knows not to be true to advance his campaign," he said.

McCain vowed to raise the tone of the presidential campaign at a rally in late January.

"I'm going to raise the level of political dialogue in America, and I'm going to treat my opponents with respect and demand that they treat me with respect," he said.

- AFP