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Annon urged international patience with hamas Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N09250729.htmhttp://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N09250729.htm
Annan counsels international patience with Hamas
09 Feb 2006 20:03:00 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 9 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the international community on Thursday to give the Islamic militant group Hamas more time to change its ways before writing it off as a partner for Middle East peace.
Hamas, which advocates the destruction of Israel, is gearing up to form a Palestinian government after defeating Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction in a Jan. 25 election.
But the quartet of international mediators, made up of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, has told Hamas it must reject violence and recognize the state of Israel or risk losing badly needed international aid for the Palestinians when it takes power.
Annan, speaking with reporters, counseled patience with the group so soon after its upset election victory.
"We are at a very early stage of the game," he said. "Hamas won the election but they have never been in government. They need time to organize themselves."
He said he hoped this would come during the three-month transitional period while Abbas was still in office.
Noting talks between Hamas and regional powers Egypt and Saudi Arabia, he urged Hamas to heed the advice of the quartet and other interested governments and honor the Palestinian Authority's past commitments, transform itself into a political party, and recognize the right of Israel to exist side-by-side in peace with an eventual Palestinian state.
Separately, Russian U.N. Ambassador Andrei Denisov voiced a similar sentiment, saying Moscow too was trying to "Keep the door open" to Hamas although it had as yet no contact or ties with the group.
At a news conference at the Russian U.N. Mission in New York, Denisov urged Hamas to prevent all terrorist activities; accept Israel as an independent state, neighbor and political party; reject radical views; pursue the peace process, and seek a political solution of the Palestine issue.
Annan said he believed the Hamas election win reflected the group's record of social service and fighting corruption rather than a shift in voter sentiment toward Islamic militancy.
"My sense is they were voting for a peaceful and stable and well-organized Palestine. So there is a lesson there and a message for rulers and politicians in the region and everywhere in the world: That people want good government and will vote for people that they believe would offer that," he said.
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