Gaza City, May 30: The hardline Islamic movement Hamas today warned that it would only stop its suicide attacks if Israel halts all "aggression", and dismissed the significance of the meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers to discuss a peace plan. "There is a price to everything, stopping our martyr operations and attacks against (Israeli) civilians cannot occur without the enemy paying the price and stopping its aggression in all its forms," top Hamas official Abelaziz Rantissi told a news agency.

Palestinian militant groups usually refer to suicide attacks as "martyr operations."

Palestinians "have not made all these sacrifices to obtain the liberation of one or two prisoners and the right for some workers to be allowed" to go back to Israel, he said in reference to a package of Israeli measures to ease pressure on Palestinians and announced today by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office.

"What our people want is the release of every prisoner, the restitution of our land and holy places and a halt to the (Israeli) aggression," he added.

He stigmatised the Sharon-Abbas meeting yesterday as "a denial of the rights of the Palestinian people."

Mohammed al-Hindi, a senior official of the smaller Islamic jihad, also labelled the meeting "meaningless."

Abbas and Sharon met at the latter's West Jerusalem office for the second time in as many weeks to discuss kickstarting the so-called "roadmap" for peace unveiled a month ago but only accepted by Israel, with reservations, on Sunday.

Bureau Report