US, EU Won’t Recognize Gov’t Including Hamas

American envoys who visited Israel about 10 days ago told Israeli officials that recognizing such a government would violate American law, Israel's Haaretz daily reported on Monday, January23 , citing knowledgeable Israeli government sources.

Israel has also received similar messages from Javier Solana, the European Union's top foreign policy official, and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos, who visited Israel last week, the sources added.

The US, the EU and the Quartet Committee for Mideast peace have recently joined forces against Hamas’s participation in the parliamentary elections, the first in ten years.

The US House of Representatives approved on December 16 a resolution threatening the Palestinian Authority that it risked losing US financial aid and other support if it allowed Hamas to contest the polls.

Solana said two days later that if Hamas won the elections, it would be "very difficult that help and the money that goes to ... the Palestinian Authority will continue to flow."

Joining the chorus, the Quartet stressed that any future Palestinian government should not include members of groups "not committed to Israel's right to exist," a veiled reference to Hamas.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's mainstream Fatah is widely expected to lose ground to Hamas in the election, scheduled for Wednesday, January25 .

Experts say Hamas, making its first bid for parliamentary seats, has been riding a wave of popularity among Palestinians because of its corruption-free reputation, extensive charity network and resistance against the Israeli occupation.

The US and Israel fear Hamas could make a strong enough showing against dominant Fatah to win cabinet seats.

Popular Barghuti

In a related development, Israel's Yediot Aharonoth revealed on Monday that the Bush administration had pressed Israel into allowing jailed popular Fatah leader Marwan Al-Barghuti to do interviews with the two main Arabic news channels, Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya.

Palestinian sources told the Israeli daily that US officials who visited the territories earlier in the month had promised Abbas to enable Barghuti’s interviews, seizing on the charisma and soaring popularity of the detained Fatah leader, seen by many as the father of Al-Aqsa Intifada.

They blamed Abbas for the anemic Fatah campaign against rising Hamas with opinion polls showing a heated race between both, according to the sources.

Barghuti’s overwhelming popularity made it impossible to have anyone but him at the top of the overall Fatah list, even above Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei.

Despite his detention, the West Bank Fatah leader served a reminder of his enduring political clout by winning 96 percent of the vote in primaries held in November to choose Fatah candidates.

In his Sunday's interviews, Barghuti called for all parties to join a broad coalition after the ballot.

Dressed in a drab brown prison uniform, Barghouthi,46 , urged Palestinians not to focus on whether Fatah defeats Hamas.

"We should not think that the aim of25 th of January is the seats. There is an upcoming aim we should be prepared for: A broad national reform government with the participation of all."

Barghouthi, tipped as a possible successor to Abbas, urged Israel to end its military rule of the West Bank, where Palestinians seek to build a state in land Israel occupied in the 1967 war.

"I urge the Israeli people to realize that there is no future for this occupation. This occupation is a burden. They should get rid of this burden," said Barghouthi, serving five life sentences in Israel.

The Palestinian MP considers his trial in Israeli courts illegal.

Gulf Money

Yediot Aharonoth has further disclosed that US officials had promised Abbas that they would put pressure on Gulf countries to contribute money to his campaign.

The Israeli paper claimed that Fatah has so far raised dozens of millions of dollars from Gulf states in support of its election campaign.

The Washington Post and the New York Times reported on Sunday, January22 , that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) was involved in sponsoring the Fatah election drive.

The two American dailies said that the Bush administration has spent almost $ 2million in a bid to bolster Fatah against Hamas.

The Times cited US and Palestinians officials, who asked not to be identified, as saying the program, which began in August, was aimed at helping defeat Hamas.

The Post first reported that the USAID was spending about $ 2million to finance projects ranging from tree planting to street cleaning and providing computers for community centers.

The projects were coordinated with Abbas and were meant to be associated with him and the PA, the newspaper said.

IslamOnline.net revealed in December that the USAID had sent a message to Palestinian MP Nabil Amr, saying it was ready to finance his and other lawmakers' electoral campaigns on condition of maintaining their position against Hamas.

http://islamonline.net/English/News/2006-01/23/article01.shtml