GAZA CITY, 12 February 2006 — Hamas yesterday confirmed it plans to travel to Moscow toward the end of this month for talks with President Vladimir Putin, an invitation that has enraged Israeli leaders who fear the international community’s resolve to shun the group is weakening.
Hamas said it does not expect Russia to impose any conditions on the group, despite US calls for Moscow to send a clear message that Hamas halt attacks on Israel and recognize the Jewish state.
“We are going to present our positions ... about the political developments and issues related to the rights of our people,” said Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza. “Russia will listen to Hamas and Hamas will listen to Russia.”
Abu Zuhri made the announcement amid a new spike in violence in Gaza. Early yesterday, a Palestinian group released an Egyptian diplomat who was kidnapped earlier in the week, while Israeli aircraft pounded suspected rocket-launching targets in northern Gaza.
Putin extended the invitation to Hamas on Thursday following its sweeping victory in last month’s Palestinian legislative elections. The group, which remains committed to Israel’s destruction and has been branded a terrorist organization in the US and Europe, is poised to form a new Palestinian government in the coming weeks.
Putin’s decision to invite Hamas for talks has infuriated Israel, which has urged the world to isolate the group until they change their violent ways.
The US reacted coolly, though officials conceded there is nothing they can do to stop the meeting. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday urged Russia to send a strong message to Hamas to halt its violence.
Russia and the US, along with the European Union and United Nations, make up the so-called Quartet of Mideast peace negotiators. The Quartet, the main backer of the road map peace plan, has called on Hamas to renounce violence and recognize Israel.
Israeli Cabinet Minister Meir Sheetrit on Friday accused Putin of “stabbing Israel in the back.” Further upsetting Israel, France has come out in support of Russia.
In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry defended Putin’s decision, saying a dialogue with Hamas must be started immediately to get the Mideast peace process back on track. It said Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had discussed the issue with US, European and UN counterparts.
“The Russian side is convinced that in the interest of guaranteeing prospects for restoring the process of a Palestinian-Israeli settlement on the basis of the road map, it is necessary not to drag out the beginning of talks with Hamas,” the ministry said.
Although an official date for the visit hasn’t been set, Abu Zuhri said yesterday that he expects it to take place in the second half of February. Russian Mideast envoy Alexander Kalugin said the visit could take place by the end of the month, the Russian news agency Interfax reported yesterday.
In Gaza, an Egyptian diplomat was released after he was kidnapped at gunpoint earlier in the week. Officials said Hossam Al-Musseli, Egypt’s military attache to the Palestinian Authority, was unharmed.
The abduction, carried out in broad daylight, underscored the lawlessness plaguing Gaza in the wake of Israel’s withdrawal from the area last September.
Meanwhile, doctors removed one-third of Ariel Sharon’s large intestine in a four-hour emergency surgery yesterday, the Israeli prime minister’s seventh operation since he suffered a massive stroke and slipped into a coma five weeks ago. The latest complication further dimmed already slim hopes of any recovery.
— With input from agencies
