BBC: Hamas vows no talks with Israel

"Newly-elected members of militant group Hamas have taken their seats in the new Palestinian parliament, rejecting calls for negotiations with Israel.
The Hamas members who dominate the new assembly criticised Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's call for peace talks.

After the swearing-in ceremony, Mr Abbas said Hamas would be forming the next government but urged it to respect the Oslo accords signed with Israel.

He also hit out at unilateral Israeli measures and military strikes.

Hamas have already nominated a senior Gaza Strip leader, Ismail Haniya, as their prime minister.


Click here to see the make-up of the new parliament
Academic Aziz Duaik, another Hamas representative, has already been confirmed as speaker of the parliament - the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).

Hope v despair

The group's Gaza-based members joined the ceremony by video link, as Israel has not allowed them to travel to the West Bank town of Ramallah.

In a wide-ranging speech, Mr Abbas reminded delegates of his commitment to negotiations.

He called for greater funds to develop Palestinian institutions, and insisted that only "one legitimate force" should operate within the Palestinian Authority

Hamas, which refuses to recognise Israel, has waged an armed campaign against Israel and retains an extensive armed wing.

Palestinians must aim for a free society, Mr Abbas said, where hope replaces despair.

He urged Hamas to respect the process of negotiation, but reserved strong words for Israel, insisting that the Palestinians would not accept a state with temporary borders.

"In order to achieve security we must have peace. There is no military solution to this conflict," Mr Abbas.

"The continuation of occupation and settlement... will only increase despair. Let us make peace so we can live in two states side by side."

Hamas doubts

Mr Abbas' comments were swiftly rejected by Hamas spokesman Sami abu-Zuhri.

"Hamas rejects negotiations with the occupation under the current circumstances, while occupation and aggression continues," he said.

"We re-emphasise the commitment to [armed] resistance as a natural right of our people."

Israel refuses to deal with Hamas unless the militant group recognises their state and lays down its arms.

Speaking to the BBC, Aziz Duaik, the newly-chosen PLC speaker, said the issue of recognising Israel was a two-way process.

"Any kind of recognition should go between a state and a state and this is not the case in our situation."

Hamas controls the new parliament 74 members - with just 45 representatives from Mr Abbas' Fatah party, formerly the dominant group.

Israel has postponed until Sunday any decision on whether to impose sanctions on the Palestinian Authority after Hamas' election win. "

All three books of faith for Jews, Muslims and Christians explicitly state that Israel is the land of the Jews.

Hamas, if it is to call itself fundamentalist, must recognize Israel.

The current state of affairs can only make Abraham, the Father of all three faiths, weep.

How long can this go on with continued bloodshed on all sides?

BBC: Palestinians give back US aid

"The Palestinian Authority has agreed to return $50m (£28.7m) of American aid following a request from Washington.
The US State Department said that it did not want the money going to a Hamas-led government that refused to recognise Israel.

The US has already said that it is reviewing all aid to the Palestinians in light of Hamas' election victory.

As proof that it is serious, it has asked for $50m of aid to the Palestinian Authority to be returned.

The money was to be spent on regenerating the Palestinian economy following Israel's withdrawal from Gaza.

However, most of the $50m is still in the bank and the Palestinian Authority has agreed to return it.

President Bush has already made clear that he will not deal with Hamas, which the US lists as a terrorist group, until it renounces violence and recognises Israel.

However, the State Department says it will continue to work to meet the humanitarian needs of ordinary Palestinians."

BBC: US attacks release of Iraq abuse pictures

"The US has said images broadcast on Australian TV showing the apparent abuse of Iraqi detainees by US soldiers should not have been released.
A US defence department official said the images could "further inflame and cause unnecessary violence".

The official said action had already been taken against US soldiers guilty of abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib jail.

Australian TV on Wednesday aired previously unseen images of apparent prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib in 2003.

The images on SBS TV are thought to be from the same source as those that caused an outcry around the world and led to several US troops being jailed.

The new images show "homicide, torture and sexual humiliation", SBS said.

The SBS' Mike Carey told the BBC the images screened by his network on Wednesday mark a "leap in seriousness" from previously released images of abuse at Abu Ghraib.

"We thought we had a responsibility first and foremost once we had obtained these photographs to broadcast them," he said.

'Held accountable'

A US state department legal adviser said the government felt it was better for the photos not to be released.

John Bellinger said this was "not because there was anything to hide" - but rather "because we felt it was an invasion of the privacy of the people in the pictures".

He said the images, which show "conduct that is absolutely disgusting" were likely to "fan the flames around the world and cause more violence".

His view was echoed by Pentagon official Bryan Whitman, who added that several US soldiers had been prosecuted over past abuses.

"There have been more than 600 criminal investigations into allegations of detainee mistreatment, and there have been more than 200 people held accountable for misconduct," he said.

"In Abu Ghraib specifically, there have been more than 25 individuals - officer and enlisted - that have been held accountable for criminal acts and other failures."

Government appeal

A Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, has confirmed the images aired on Wednesday are authentic, the AFP news agency reports.

"There is nothing new here," the official reportedly said, adding that the images "have been previously investigated as part of the Abu Ghraib investigation".

The images are thought to be part of a group of more than 100 photographs and four videos taken at Abu Ghraib and later handed to the US army's Criminal Investigations Division.

In September, a New York judge ruled in favour of a request from the American Civil Liberties Union for the pictures to be released.

The judge rejected the government's arguments that publication could fuel anti-US feelings.

The SBS' Dateline programme, which broadcast the pictures, says the government is appealing against the decision.

'Long-running pain'


The broadcast of the images comes at a time of increased tension between Muslim nations and the West over cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad.

Analysts say the reaction in the Muslim world may depend on how widely the images are shown. In Iraq, the emergence of the images come amid tension caused by the release of a video appearing to show UK troops beating Iraqi civilians.

An Iraqi teacher, Hanan Adeeb, told the Reuters news agency that the new pictures "reignited the long-running pain that started with the occupation of Iraq".

One of the videos broadcast on the Dateline programme appears to show prisoners being forced to masturbate for the camera.

Other video footage appears to show a prisoner hitting his head against a wall.

The channel said he was a mentally disturbed patient who became a plaything of guards who practised ways of restraining him.

Some photos are said to show corpses. There are also images of prisoners with body and head wounds.

Some of the pictures have now been re-broadcast on US networks and on Arab satellite channels al-Arabiya and al-Jazeera."

Only an idiot will fail to see that projecting these images will further inflame Muslims against the West, and in particular, the United States.

You have to question the motives of Australian tv in disseminating them.

NYTimes:France backs Russia on talks with Hamas

"By JOEL BRINKLEY
Published: February 11, 2006
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 — France on Friday endorsed Russia's decision to hold talks on the Middle East conflict with Hamas, the radical Islamist Palestinian group, saying the discussion "can contribute to advancing our positions."

Other European countries distanced themselves from the French statement, which appeared to be in defiance of the American and European view that Hamas is a terrorist organization and therefore should not be officially recognized. Israel condemned it. But the United States took a more cautious approach.

"Our position is not to tell the whole world that they can't talk to Hamas," said a senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "That would be hard to enforce. The issue is less who's talking than what they are saying."

On Thursday, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said he was considering inviting Hamas, the winner of the Palestinian parliamentary elections on Jan. 25, to Moscow for talks, and on Friday the Kremlin confirmed that it would do so. Mr. Putin's remarks took the Bush administration and European leaders by surprise.

Israel reacted to the Russian decision with fury on Friday. Transportation Minister Meir Sheetrit called the Putin invitation "a real knife in the back."

But in Washington, a State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, on Friday and was reassured to hear that the Russians would deliver a "clear, strong message" to Hamas.

The United States considers Hamas a terrorist group, and American officials are forbidden to talk to the organization. The European Union's policy on talks is not as clear, several officials and diplomats said in interviews. But none said their countries would talk with Hamas.

Foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany is to go to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Sunday, but a German official insisted, "He is definitely not going to talk to Hamas."

A French diplomat said France "won't have contacts with Hamas," despite its statement of support for the Russian talks.

Speaking to reporters in Paris on Friday, Denis Simonneau, a French Foreign Ministry spokesman, said Russia had not informed European leaders of its intent to talk with Hamas. Still, he added, "we share with Russia the goal to bring Hamas to the positions which allow us to reach the goal of two states living in peace and security."

"As long as we remain within the framework of the goals and principles that we have set for ourselves, we consider that this initiative can contribute to advancing our positions" — specifically that Hamas disarm, renounce violence, recognize Israel and respect previous agreements with Israel.

Sabbath had begun in Israel by the time the French position became known in Jerusalem on Friday. But Daniel Ayalon, the Israeli ambassador to Washington, said in an interview, "I wish they would not have said anything about having a dialogue with terrorists."

Israeli officials in Jerusalem were less restrained when speaking on Friday about the Russian decision.

Housing Minister Zeev Boim said, "Putin is dancing with wolves."

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, returning from New York on Friday, said, "Every sign of weakness and of recognition will be interpreted by Hamas as legitimizing terror."

Egyptian Diplomat Is Released

GAZA, Saturday, Feb. 11 (Reuters) — An Egyptian military attaché kidnapped Thursday by gunmen in Gaza was released unharmed on Saturday, an Egyptian official in Gaza said.

A previously unknown militant group, calling itself the Free Men Brigades, had claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the diplomat, Hussam al-Musli, demanding the release of all Palestinians held in Egyptian prisons.

The Egyptian official who had announced Mr. Musli's release would not discuss the circumstances.

Steven Erlanger contributed reporting from Jerusalem for this article, and Ariane Bernard from Paris.
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