January 29, 2006	Sunday	Zilhaj 28, 1426

DAMASCUS, Jan 28: The Hamas is ready to merge armed factions, including its military wing, to form an army to defend the Palestinian people, a senior Hamas leader said on Saturday.

The group’s political leader Khaled Meshaal also told a news conference in Damascus Hamas would honour commitments made by the Palestinian Authority to Israel, provided they serve Palestinian interests, despite the group’s refusal to recognise Israel.

“We are willing to form an army like every country ... an army to defend our people against aggression,” Mr Meshaal said after the group’s sweeping victory in Palestinian elections that plunged Middle East peacemaking deeper in limbo.

He said the proposed new force, if formed, would not let its agenda be dictated by Israel’s security needs. Hamas’s charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Asked whether Hamas would consider amending its charter and respect agreements the Palestinian Authority had signed with Israel, Mr Meshaal said: “We will honour our Palestinian commitments provided that it serves our people.”

“We will not recognise the Israeli occupation but we are realistic and we know things are done gradually ... Being against occupation does not mean I can cancel Israel in moments.”

But Mr Meshaal, whose group has carried out dozens of suicide bombings against Israelis, warned Israeli voters ahead of March general elections that force would not bring them security. “There is no Israeli leader who can provide security for you against a backdrop of occupation ... if you want the bloodbath to continue then shoulder the outcome.”

President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday any government would have to follow his programme to negotiate with Israel for Palestinian statehood. Leaders from Mr Abbas’s Fatah have rejected forming a coalition government with Hamas.

Mr Meshaal, however, said the Palestinian people have rejected Mr Abbas’s programme by voting for Hamas’s candidates in the parliamentary elections and renewed the group’s call to form a cabinet comprising all Palestinian factions.

“The Palestinian people were offered both programmes in the elections and they chose ours,” he said.

“We believe it is in the interest of everybody to ride the train that Hamas is driving because this train is going to reach (its destination) ... Hamas will not turn its back on any one. Let bygones be bygones.”

The group’s unexpected victory has shocked the world and prompted the United States to threaten to cut back its $234 million aid earmarked for the Palestinians this year.

European Union officials have also indicated that Hamas will be shunned if it refuses to ‘renounce violence’.

But Mr Meshaal called on the international community not to stop its support to the Palestinian people.

“We tell them it’s enough that you have caused the Palestinian crisis by supporting Israel or creating it, so don’t punish the Palestinian people because they made a democratic choice,” he said.

“It is the obligation of the entire world, not just Arab and Muslim leaders, to support the Palestinian people economically because they are living under occupation,” he said.—Reuters