GAZA CITY, 17 February 2006 — As part of efforts to counter Israeli and Western attempts to isolate Hamas on the world stage, a delegation led by the chairman of the group’s Political Bureau, Khaled Meshaal, yesterday visited Turkey and held talks with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul in Ankara.
Before meeting the delegation, Gul said Turkey was trying to guide the Palestinians to the right path toward peace.
Meshaal had been expected to meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But the premier’s office said Erdogan would not meet with Meshaal. However, Meshaal is expected to meet with Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat, a deputy chairman of Erdogan’s party.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that a high-level Hamas delegation would hold talks with Russian officials in Moscow early next month. “We have reached an agreement in principle about the arrival in early March of a delegation of the Hamas leadership to Moscow,” the ministry said in a statement.
A top military officer said Russia could decide on weapons deliveries to the Palestinians after the talks, the Interfax news agency reported. “This decision must be made with the new Palestinian leadership,” the army’s chief of the general staff, Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, was quoted as saying.
He said two helicopters expected to be delivered to the Palestinians would be unarmed and were intended for transporting the territory’s leaders. “Armored equipment is also intended for stabilizing the situation,” Interfax quoted Baluyevsky as saying.
The Palestinian Authority plans to buy two Mi-17 transport helicopters and 50 armored personnel carriers, Interfax said.
In the West Bank city of Ramallah, a senior Hamas official said the group had chosen Ismail Haniyeh to be the next prime minister of Palestine. But hours later Haniyeh himself denied the report. “Hamas is still continuing its internal consultations to determine who will be asked to head the coming government,” Haniyeh, 43, said.
Hamas is expected to present the group’s choice for prime minister to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas tomorrow. Abbas would then ask the nominee to form a government. Once the Hamas leader puts together a government, Parliament would hold a confidence vote.
Palestinian officials said Abbas would insist Hamas accept his goal of reaching a peace agreement with Israel before taking power. Abbas’ demands set the stage for a possible showdown between the movement and Abbas, but a Hamas leader expressed confidence a compromise would be reached. In an interview with Agence France Presse, Haniyeh said Hamas would not renounce violence once it comes to power but would work with Abbas. Palestinian officials said Abbas intends to use his speech to Parliament tomorrow to remind MPs and the new administration that everyone should respect “one weapon,” the “lawful weapon” of the security services.
A new Hamas prime minister also faces tough Israeli opposition. Israel said it would bar Gazans from entering Israeli territory. Barring access to Israel would be devastating to the already battered Gaza economy, which depends heavily on exports to Israel. The Israeli market is the largest for the impoverished coastal strip, and most of Gaza’s exports to the rest of the world go through Israeli ports.
— Additional input from agencies
