January 28, 2006	Saturday	Zilhaj 27, 1426

JAKARTA, Jan 27: Asian governments on Friday urged Hamas to ‘renounce violence’ and work toward peace after its victory in Palestinian elections, while hardline Muslim groups hailed the result as a reward for decades of armed resistance against Israel.

“This is great,” said Ismail Yusanto from Hizbut Tahrir, a hardline group that campaigns for an Islamic state in Indonesia. “The Palestinians have spoken and they want someone to continue the struggle against Israel,” he said, adding there was no need for the group to disarm.

Australia and Japan _ both key US allies in Asia _ immediately called on Hamas to give up violence. “Hamas has been democratically elected and that fact has to be accepted,” Australian Prime Minister John Howard said. “But Hamas in return has got to accept that you can’t simultaneously behave like a democratically elected government and support terrorism.”

New Zealand echoed those comments, as did Japan. “Japan strongly expects that the Palestinian Authority, following the successful implementation of the elections, will make efforts for peace in accordance with the roadmap, such as to control the extremists,” Foreign Minister Taro Aso said in a statement.

Indonesia urged Hamas’s critics to accept the result, noting that it was not impossible for figures or groups judged to be hardline in the past to help build peace.

Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda pointed to former Israeli prime ministers Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon — saying one reached peace with Egypt while the other pulled troops out of Gaza.

Speaking in Davos, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said: “Hamas should recognise that the people of Israel are a nation ... with families and children like all of us.”—AP