Gaza City, June 08: The radical Islamic group Hamas has ruled out any new talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas, who was to meet with other militant groups over his pledge to end the armed uprising against Israel. "We reject any meeting with Abu Mazen until he abandons all (his) commitments to his Aqaba statement," said senior Hamas leader Abdul Aziz Rantissi yesterday, using the premier's nickname, and referring to his pledge this week at a Middle East summit in Aqaba, Jordan.
Hamas, which has carried out waves of suicide bombings against Israelis and enjoys popular support among Palestinians for its militant activities and charity work, on Friday said it was breaking off any ceasefire talks with Abbas. The group said it was livid over Abbas' final statement at the Wednesday summit with US President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at which he pledged to end the armed intifada and expressed sympathy for Jewish suffering throughout history.
At the summit, called to kickstart the internationally drafted roadmap for peace, Abbas said the Palestinian authority would "exert our full efforts using all our resources to end the militarisation of the intifada." The roadmap calls on the Palestinians to curb militant attacks and on Israelis to freeze Jewish settlement activity and dismantle settlement outposts, in the first steps leading to a Palestinian state in 2005.
In the wake of the summit, Hamas apparently scrapped plans to announce a comprehensive ceasefire agreement, a senior Fatah official said. Bureau Report