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Putin invites Hamas for talks
10/02/2006 14:05 - (SA)
Madrid - Russia does not see the Palestinian group, Hamas, as a terrorist organisation, said Russian President Vladimir Putin, and invited to Moscow leaders of the group responsible for dozens of suicide bombings. A Hamas leader quickly accepted the invitation.
A top Russian envoy to the Middle East said later on Thursday from Moscow that the meeting was intended as a forum to ask the militant Palestinian group to recognise Israel's right to exist.
Israel reacted coldly to Putin's comments, which were sure to spark fears that the unified Western front the Jewish state sought to build against Hamas might be unravelling.
Hamas' surprise January 25 election victory sent shock waves around the world. The group's founding manifesto called for the destruction of Israel, and it had refused since the election to move away from that position.
Legitimate elections
Speaking at a joint press conference after meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Putin urged the world not to turn its back on Hamas.
He said: "Hamas came to power ... as a result of democratic, legitimate elections and we must respect the choice of the Palestinian people.
"We have to look for solutions for the Palestinian people, for the international community, and also for Israel."
Hamas had claimed responsibility for many violent attacks in Israel, but Putin refused to label it a terrorist organisation. He said: "We have never considered Hamas a terrorist organisation."
Search for solutions
The Russian leader said he would invite Hamas representatives to Moscow to participate in talks in the future.
He said: "Having maintained our contacts with the organisation, Hamas, we intend to invite their leaders to Moscow in the near future to search for solutions."
Alexander Kalugin, Russia's special envoy for the Middle East, said Russia would ask Hamas to recognise Israel's right to exist.
He was quoted as saying: "There cannot be any dialogue without it."
Middle East peace negotiators
Kalugin said that if Hamas representatives were to come to Russia, the meeting would be in line with agreements reached by the so-called Quartet, a group of Middle East peace negotiators, which included United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.
Responding to Putin's comments, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said members would be "delighted" to visit Russia if they were officially invited.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Mikhail Kamynin said that Russia's overtures to Hamas were motivated by a desire to prevent "a serious deterioration" of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and to keep the path open for international mediation efforts.
He said that Moscow intended to deliver a strong and clear message to the Hamas leadership from the international community about the need to take "responsible decisions that are in the interests of the entire Palestinian people".
- AP
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