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Hamas Leaders in Ankara, Invited to Moscow
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Meshaal
will hold talks with senior officials of the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP).
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ANKARA,
February 16, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – A
delegation of senior Hamas leaders arrived in Turkey on Thursday,
February 16, for talks with Turkish officials, and will travel to
Moscow in the next few days after receiving an official invitation for
talks.
"The
expectations of the international community following the Palestinian
elections will be clearly conveyed during the talks," the Turkish
Foreign Ministry said in a statement cited by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
It
added that Hamas had asked to send a delegation to Turkey.
The
visiting delegation is chaired by Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and
includes four of the group's senior officials.
Their
visit was the first stop in a tour of Muslim states that is intended
to muster support for Hamas as Western powers step up pressure on the
group which swept last month's Palestinian legislative election and
prepares to form the new government.
Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had offered to act as go-between
for Israel and the new Palestinian administration.
A
Turkish official said both the United States and Israel had been
informed late on Wednesday of the visit.
Party
Talks
Erdogan
has apologized for not meeting the Hamas leaders who are instead
scheduled to hold talks with senior officials of his ruling Justice
and Development Party (AKP).
Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul, who will attend the meeting as a senior AKP
leader and not in his official capacity, defended the talks as an
effort to pave the way for Middle East peace negotiations.
"There
should be no violence for peace talks to take place, for them (Hamas)
to become an interlocutor," Gul told reporters.
"The
peace process should enable the establishment of an independent
Palestinian state and its coexistence alongside Israel as two
independent states," he added.
In
comments to Israeli public radio on Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister
Tzipi Livni said Gul had telephoned three days earlier to inform her
of the meetings with Hamas and its aim.
"We
were not surprised by the invitation. (Gul) wanted to update me that
the meeting was going to take place," she said.
Livni
said she had expressed to Gul Israel's position that talks with Hamas
"only undermine" the international community's efforts to
make Hamas change its ways.
"We
don't like these meetings because... Israel does not seek mediators or
negotiations on the conditions," she added.
Turkey,
a predominantly Muslim but strictly secular state, has been Israel's
main regional ally since 1996, when the two countries signed a
military cooperation accord, much to the anger of Iran and Arab
countries.
Moscow
Invitation
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"We
have received an invitation to travel shortly to Russia,"
Haniya said.
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Despite
Israel's attempts to form a united international front against Hamas,
several countries have agreed to hold talks with members of the group.
"We
have received an invitation to travel shortly to Russia," senior
Hamas leader Ismail Haniya told Agence France-Presse (AFP) Thursday.
Haniya,
who led the group's list during the legislative polls and is tipped to
be the new premier, said Hamas delegation would travel to Moscow
"in the next few days."
The
delegation would be "composed of officials from the Palestinian
territories and those who are in exile," he added.
Russia's
special envoy to the Middle East Alexander Kalugin was quoted as
saying the Hamas delegation could visit Moscow towards the end of the
month.
"The
visit could take place approximately around the end of February, but
this has yet to be agreed," he told the Interfax news agency.
Jordan
also said it would welcome a delegation from the resistance group,
which was banned six year ago.
"We
welcome a visit of a delegation of our brothers the leaders of Hamas
in their capacity as leaders of a Palestinian faction which we respect
and value," Jordanian Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit told
parliament on Wednesday.
"Jordan
looks forward to the formation of a new Palestinian government and
hopes these efforts will be crowned with success in achieving the
Palestinian people's quest to end Israeli occupation and set up an
independent Palestinian state on Palestinian national soil, with Al-Quds
(occupied East Jerusalem) as its capital," he added.
Meshaal
was expelled from Jordan in 1999.
The
group's spokesman Ibrahim Ghosheh and political bureau members Wzzat
Rushuq and Samir Khatar were thrown out of Jordan in November 1999 on
claims of threatening national security and stability.
Ban
Stepping
up the ante against Hamas, a senior Israeli official said they will
prevent any Hamas prime minister from traveling to the Ramallah-based
seat of the Palestinian Authority.
"Those
who belong to a terrorist movement that advocates the destruction of
the state of Israel cannot claim any privilege concerning their
freedom of movement," said the official.
Asked
how a Hamas prime minister would carry out his duties under such
conditions, the official said he could "do it thanks to the
Internet."
Israeli
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz will recommend that Israel bans
Palestinians from traveling between the Gaza Strip and West Bank, and
from working in the Jewish state, the public radio reported Thursday.
Mofaz
will also advise that projects such as building a sea port for Gaza
and efforts to revive an airport in the territory are frozen following
the inauguration of a Hamas-dominated parliament.
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