PARIS, May 19: France said on Monday it had held talks with Hamas, in an apparent softening of its support for the US-led policy of isolating the Palestinian group that seized control of the Gaza Strip last year.

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner confirmed a report in the French daily Le Figaro quoting a retired ambassador who it said had met senior Hamas officials about a month ago.

“It would be difficult to deny it since the man who is in touch with them has spoken,” Mr Kouchner told Europe 1 radio.

“Having contacts is necessary. We had some before the invasion (takeover by Hamas) of Gaza.”

The US State Department criticised France’s decision to have contacts with Hamas, although it did not echo US President George Bush’s recent suggestion that negotiating with such groups is tantamount to appeasement.

“We don’t think it is wise or appropriate,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington. The United States classifies Hamas as a terrorist group.

But Israel said France’s position was unchanged.—Reuters