Region | Palestinian Territories
Hamas leader to answer British MPs' queries
The leader of the Palestinian group Hamas planned an unprecedented video link address to British lawmakers yesterday, part of a campaign to persuade the West to talk to his party if it wants peace in the Middle East.
- Agencies
- Published: 23:04 April 22, 2009
London: It promises to be one of the British parliament's more controversial question-and-answer sessions.
The leader of the Palestinian group Hamas planned an unprecedented video link address to British lawmakers yesterday, part of a campaign to persuade the West to talk to his party if it wants peace in the Middle East.
Khaled Mesha'al, who is living in exile in Syria, will answer questions for lawmakers inside a Parliament meeting room. Event organisers hope the session will help persuade the US and European governments to review policy toward Hamas.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States would not deal with or fund a Palestinian government that included Hamas unless it met three international conditions.
"We will not deal with nor in any way fund a Palestinian government that includes Hamas unless and until Hamas has renounced violence, recognised Israel and agrees to follow the previous obligations of the Palestinian National Authority," Clinton told the House of Representatives foreign affairs committee.
Several European governments said on Tuesday they had no plans to open contacts with Hamas.
Britain, along with the United States and the European Union, regards Hamas as a terrorist organisation and refuses to hold talks with the group. Hamas has held power in the Gaza Strip since 2007, when it violently seized control and expelled forces loyal to moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who still rules the West Bank.
But a group of six British lawmakers who met with Mesha'al last month in Syria say opening a new dialogue could be crucial to winning a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, a new poll shows that the vast majority of Israelis and Palestinians are willing to live alongside each other peacefully in separate states.
Results indicate that 74 per cent of Palestinians and 78 per cent of Israelis are willing to accept a two-state solution.
The poll was commissioned by the OneVoice Movement, a grass-roots group.
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