Posted on 02/09/2006 1:44:33 PM PST by twinself
MADRID (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin invited the leaders of Palestinian poll winners Hamas to Moscow for talks and insisted his government was right to back a dialogue with the radical Islamic group.
"We are ready to work with all parties. Contacts with Hamas must continue," Putin told reporters on the second and final day of an official visit to Spain.
"Today we have to recognize that Hamas came through the doors of power via legitimate means and also respect the choice of the Palestinian people," Putin said following talks with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
Hamas' spokesman in Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri, told AFP the group, which scored a landslide Palestinian poll win on January 25, would happily accept the invite.
"We salute the Russian position and when an invitation is officially sent to us, we will accept it with the aim of strengthening our relations with the West and particularly with the Russian government," Abu Zuhri said, welcoming a chance for Hamas to "explain its position and its vision regarding Israel's deceptive policies."
Putin said he believed bringing Hamas into the fold for a dialogue would pay off.
"I am convinced that burning bridges in politics is not very effective," he replied when asked why Moscow, unlike the United States and the European Union, does not consider Hamas a terrorist organisation.
Putin also said he believed it was time for the world to accept the poll result and work with a Hamas-led administration, even though the group has yet to accept key international demands to renounce violence and recognize Israeli statehood.
Zapatero noted there was a "new electoral reality in Palestine -- and it is in the common interest for politics (in the region) to be pursued without recourse to violence."
The Spanish leader said he gave his full backing to the "Quartet" -- the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia -- as the bloc sought to move the Middle East peace process forward "so that it can be kept alive."
As Putin extended his invitation, UN chief Kofi Annan appealed to the militant group to transform itself into a political party following its shock poll win at the expense of the long-dominant Fatah movement of Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.
"I urge Hamas to listen to the appeals not just from the Quartet but from other governments in the region asking it to transform itself into a political party," Annan told reporters.
"This is not the first time that an armed movement has transformed itself into a political party. There are lots of examples around the world," Annan noted.
"I urge Hamas to go the same route."
..winning the war on terror.
ping
Putin is a blithering idiot.
And a very dangerous idiot.
do not *ping* me unless I request to be on your *ping* list.
Do not ask me questions you don't want to hear the answers for.
Former head of the KGB. No love for Freedom. Be very wary of these ties (Hamas, Iran, etc.) We could be in for something far greater than any of us could imagine...
I dont know about being an idiot, It sounds to me like he may be looking to sell some AK-47's or missiles like he just sold to Iran.
For Putin it looks like some terrorists are better than others--simply disgusting. Putin regime once again shows its duplicity--speaking eloquently on the War on [chiefly Islamic] Terror on one hand and cuddling with vicious Islamists, like Hamas and until very recently Iranian mullahs, on the other.
Although if you look at how the Western leaders behave, it's often not much better. Clinton Administration just couldn't stop inviting Arafat and his PLO/Fatah cronies to the White House, although their goal of destroying Israel is identical with that of Hamas. European Union and US government continued financing Palestinian Autonomy despite the numerous reports that money are being either outright stolen or diverted to the terror attacks against Israel. Even after Hamas victory, EU did not cut off funding completely.
So unfortunately, nobody right now shows a resolute and unambiguous stance against Islamists.
Putin=Communist
An answer is not a ping to another threads and hamas and putin have little or nothing to do with polish maids and housewives.
The enemy of your enemy is your ally...
Israel/Middle East/Russia Ping.
But your post had a lot to do with posting BS for brainless housewives just because some Polish person was involved. Doing that WHILE Putin invited terrorists to Moscow makes you look silly especially in front of this forum. That's all. And I will never ping you again - so cut the crap.
Putin & Hamas share a common goal - the destruction of Israel.
I have YET to PING anyone maybe you should go look up the word PING.
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