Sharon Seeks Disarmament of Militants

[barb162]

Sharon Seeks Disarmament of Militants


By AMY TEIBEL
Associated Press Writer

September 18, 2005, 6:19 PM EDT


NEW YORK -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Sunday that he has asked U.N. and European leaders to press for the disarming of Hamas militants and the abolition of their covenant -- Israel's destruction.

snip

Abbas made a "major mistake" by inviting Hamas to run in the elections, Sharon said. Their presence in the national Palestinian government is "unbearable" so long as they don't disarm and abandon their call for Israel's destruction, he said.

"I talked today to the secretary-general of the United Nations, I talked to every European leader about this issue," said Sharon, who came to New York last week for the U.N. summit of world leaders.

snip

Israel says Hamas participation in Palestinian elections violates the 1994 interim peace accords that created the Palestinian Authority, banning groups from running if they call for destruction of Israel. Hamas' Islamic ideology does not recognize a Jewish state in the Middle East, and Hamas suicide bombers have killed hundreds of Israelis during the past five years.

snip

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-us-israel,0,755852.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines

[Tom Joad]

1. I would like to seek total disarmament, including the Israeli military

Start by asking the US to stop all military aid to all parties in the conflict.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. Oh yeah...that makes sense...

NOT! Disarm a nation's military when it has been a victim of war so many times?! But, if they did disarm Israel, maybe Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and others would actually be able to defeat Israel...possibly achieve their dream of pushing Israel into the sea!

Your proposal: :eyes:

[bemildred]

2. US softens opposition to Hamas role

The United States has signalled an easing of opposition to the participation of Hamas in Palestinian elections and urged Israel to cooperate in organising the polls.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice elaborated the position after a meeting of the International Quartet that called for intensified Middle East peace talks but offered no new initiative to follow up on Israel's pullout from Gaza.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Rice reiterated the US view that there was a "fundamental contradiction" between Hamas' armed activities and its plan to run in January's legislative polls.

But she added: "We understand that the Palestinian political system is in transition, that it is in transition towards a democratic system and that that has to be a Palestinian process.

:banghead: :banghead:

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E95302F1-1665-4884-903F-84BB0670713A.htm

[newyorican]

3. "Softens opposition"

meaning it's something that can't be stopped anyway...

[Scurrilous]

5. Hamas leader: Call for Israel's destruction 'is not the Koran'

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/627609.html

<snip>

"Hamas could one day amend a charter calling for the destruction of Israel and hold negotiations with the Jewish state, a political leader of the Islamic militant group in the West Bank said.

"The charter is not the Koran," Mohammed Ghazal told Reuters in an interview in Nablus on Tuesday.

"Historically, we believe all Palestine belongs to Palestinians, but we're talking now about reality, about political solutions... The realities are different."

The unprecedented comments by Mohammed Ghazal clashed with recent pronouncements of more senior Hamas officials in Gaza.

But they reflected an apparent shift in Hamas towards the political mainstream and to winning greater world acceptance in the run-up to Palestinian parliamentary elections and after Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip."