Hamas should have no role in Gaza: US - Militant leader seeks anti-US alliance
WASHINGTON, April 19: The United States said on Monday it wants the Hamas shut down and prevented from playing any role in the Gaza Strip after Israel withdraws from the territory.
Washington again refused to condemn Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Abdel aziz Rantissi on Saturday but repeated its "grave concern" for stability of the Middle East in the wake of his slaying.
The State Department also reminded Israel that it must consider the consequences of its actions, although it stressed its right to self-defense and made no secret of US desires to Hamas "put out of business".
Spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington would continue to press the Palestinian Authority to move against the organization in Gaza, where it has broad popular support not least because of its charitable and social services work.
"We're not counting on Hamas to do something in terms of the Gaza withdrawal," spokesman Richard Boucher said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's controversial disengagement plan.
"We're looking for people to put Hamas out of business," he said. "The Gaza pullout is going to go more smoothly and be more successful if Hamas is not around at all."
Observers believe that Hamas will move quickly and easily to fill any power vacuum left by an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza given the scope and depth of its support from rank-and-file Palestinians. But Mr Boucher said the United States would oppose anything of the sort and added that the Palestinian Authority should be meeting the needs of Palestinians in Gaza.
"We have believed and continue to believe that if the Palestinian government would step up to the plate in terms of the organization of its security services ... that the Palestinian government could, over time, shut down Hamas and could provide the kind of social services that a population looks for," he said.
ALLIANCE SOUGHT: Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal on Monday called for a Muslim alliance to defeat the United States and Israel. "Our battle is with two sides, one of them is the strongest power in the world, the United States, and the second is the strongest power in the region (Israel)," he told hundreds of people at the Al Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, near Damascus.
"That is the calibre of the battle. We will not be victorious unless the other side of the battle is Arab and Muslim." Meshaal, who survived an Israeli assassination attempt in 1997 in Jordan, said Hamas would avenge the killing of the group's spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin on March 22 and Gaza leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi on Saturday.
The Hamas politburo chief vowed Palestinians would "turn Earth on their heads, God willing". He urged Arabs and Muslims to "make an alliance, even a temporary one". There are more than 50 Muslim countries around the world, most of which are non-Arab.
Hamas, which has vowed to destroy the Jewish state, envisages having Israel and the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip as part of a Palestinian state. It rejects the US-sponsored peace "road map".
Meshaal said last week US President George Bush "fired a fatal bullet at the roadmap and at any other settlement plan" when he approved Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan for unilateral moves.
Mr Bush coupled his endorsement of Sharon's unilateral Gaza pullout plan, with support for Israel to retain parts of the occupied West Bank and a negation of any right of return of Palestinian refugees to what is now Israel. -AFP / Reuters
