Hamas to gain control of sec. forces [Terrorist State is Born]

JERUSALEM POST ^ | Feb. 4, 2006 | AP

[Sabramerican]

Hamas to gain control of sec. forces Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 4, 2006

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has agreed that the Hamas will take control of Palestinian security forces after it assumes power, a Hamas leader said Saturday after the group's first meeting with Abbas since routing his Fatah Party in elections.

Abbas met with Hamas leaders Saturday evening for the first time since their victory in the Palestinian elections in late January.

"There is no truth to baseless reports that President Abbas wants to take over the security institutions," Ismail Haniyeh said after the meeting concluded.

Abbas has not said he wanted to retain control over the police, but other senior Fatah officials have said that Fatah-dominated security forces wouldn't submit to Hamas control. Israel's Channel 1 TV reported Saturday that Abbas did seek to retain control of Palestinian police in his meeting with Hamas leaders.

The Hamas leaders also said in a news conference after the meeting that Abbas didn't demand that Hamas recognize Israel or honor Palestinian Authority agreements with Israel as a condition for being charged with forming a government. Abbas "did not pose any political conditions related to the agreements, or to anything else," Haniyeh said.

Asked if Hamas, which calls for Israel's destruction, would honor the deals with Israel, he replied, "The Israeli occupation has to recognize our legitimate rights first."

Talks with Israel, he added, "are not on our agenda."

As for recognizing Israel, another Hamas leader, Mahmoud Zahar said, "We are not going to recognize the Israeli enemy."

The new, Hamas-dominated parliament will convene on February 16, Haniyeh said.

With Saturday's meeting, unofficial consultations on forming a new government have begun, Haniyeh said. After parliament meets February 16, Hamas will nominate a prime minister and submit that name to Abbas, who would then charge the nominee with forming a government, he added.

Zahar predicted a government would be formed by the end of February.

Abbas, who wants to restart peace talks with Israel, was elected separately last year and now must work out a power-sharing arrangement with the Islamic group, which is sworn to Israel's destruction.

Hamas, a novice to national politics, has invited Fatah to join a governing coalition, but hasn't received an official answer, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said earlier in the day. In the past, senior Fatah officials have said the party, which dominated Palestinian politics for four decades, would not agree to take a junior role in a Hamas-led government.

An alliance with Fatah would allow Hamas to sidestep dealings with Israel, which the Palestinians cannot avoid entirely, if only for economic reasons. Palestinian infrastructure is heavily intertwined with Israel's, and most Palestinian imports pass through Israeli-controlled borders.

But Fatah, defeated by voters fed up with corruption and lawlessness on Palestinian streets, could be well served by letting the inexperienced Hamas grapple solo with the Palestinians' many challenges, most prominently, relations with Israel and an impoverished economy.

[familyop]

"My question: why does a Hillary smirk get 300 times the amount of posts in response?"

...because of our 19th constitutional Amendment. US politics resemble soap operas and reflect prevailing interest in trivia about famous personalities. Our politicians pander to those interests. Generally, even our leaders (every kind of leader--even all moral leaders) long ago began to rationalize disobedience to the most fundamental of laws (see rebellion, divorce), and we're paying for that.

[Former Proud Canadian]

Re post 4, and the rest of the muslim world? They, too have been fed a diet of "hate the west". Don't they have to be dealt with?

[strider44]

The M4 is not limited to Special Forces. It is a very standard Infantry weapon. I'm the S4 of an aviation task force, and we have dozens of them. It's a good weapon, the soldiers like it. You can't totally blame the government if some of these weapons turn up in the wrong places.

[Jackknife]

Arming another'country's' forces seems to be sticky business, as we see here. How are we to know what kind of tin-horned leader will come to power later in the history of these 'countries'? How do we know if the weaponry will not be used against us or our true allies? I am not in favor of this kind of building up of other governments' militaries. Now, when Hamas uses these forces to do harm to Israel or other nations, the leftists will use this as a 'told ya so' moment.

This is very frustrating.

[Jackknife]

Thanks for those pics and info.

Very disturbing.

[papertyger]

This is a monumental failure of American policy. The US has helped birth a terrorist State run by Al Quida older brothers.

It would seem to not only be a failure of American policy, but a real blow to the democratic theories of Natan Sharanski.

[Iscool]

I hafta wonder if the Jews in Israel will ever figure out that the Palestinians have declared war on Israel...

[Sabramerican]

Sharansky has spoken on the issue.

His theories is that Democracy does not come with just a vote but first in changing attitudes.

Hate is removed from the media and the schools, and of course the Mosques.

The World is so anxious to give these barbarians a State that nothing else counts.

[Vicomte13]

Well, at least the US arms export industry is doing well...

Reminds me of the French spreading around their Exocets.