Posted on 10/20/2005 7:14:17 PM PDT by Sabramerican
U.S. won't oppose Hamas participation in PA elections By Shmuel Rosner and Arnon Regular
WASHINGTON - The United States will not actively oppose Hamas' participation in the Palestinian Authority parliamentary elections, Palestinian officials said following U.S. President George Bush's meeting with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas yesterday.
Even before the White House meeting, American officials said that while Washington objects in principle to allowing an armed organization to run in the elections, the final decision rests with the PA. And while Bush raised the issue of disarming Hamas prior to elections at yesterday's meeting, he did not dwell on it or pressure Abbas, Palestinian sources said. He also did not mention the issue during a joint press conference with Abbas following the meeting. American officials explained that Bush believes there is no advantage to staging a frontal confrontation with Abbas a few months prior to the January elections.
Abbas reiterated after the meeting that he has no intention of barring any Palestinian faction from running, since he believes it would be counterproductive. The correct strategy, he said, is to maintain quiet on the security front and move forward on the road map. At the press conference, he said this strategy is working as evidenced by the armed organizations' consent to a cease-fire and, more recently, a ban on carrying weapons in public places. Only a new, democratically elected legislature, he argued, will have the legitimacy needed to finally disarm the militias.
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
Why?
Don't know what happened. Please remove one.
Because our government has degenerated into a bunch of self-serving idiots.
Nam Vet
An "armed organization?" How about a terrorist organization. Are American officials starting to follow the MSM's lead in not calling a terrorist a terrorist? .....or are they shy about doing so only if the terrorist org in question is Palestinian.
I posted this in your first try, I guess this one is the proper one.
"Neither Bush nor Abbas specifically mentioned the feud over whether the Islamist militant group Hamas should be able to take part in the Palestinians' January legislative elections.
But Abbas, after a reference to a halt in attacks on Israel, said that "all groups are on their way to the electoral process, so all groups will become a part of the political Palestinian fabric."
Washington has sent mixed messages in public about whether the group should be able to take part."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/mideastus
What happened to opposing terrorists and anyone who harbors them?
Just maintaining the status quo...
http://www.coxandforkum.com/archives/000233.html
ping
Designated pursuant to §219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended. (As of 12/30/2004)
HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement) 10/8/1997
this is SICK!!!!!!!
..........................................
Surprise, surprise.
You got that right.
This is sickening!!!! This adminstration will be remembered as one of the most hypocritical, most anti-Israel in history. Catering to the PLO/Hamas/PA makes everything he said about fighting terrorism nothing more than empty words.
Yep. Taiwan's former president Lee Teng-hui came to the US yesterday while the administration is talking military cooperation with the ChiComs.
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