Gaza City, June 20: The radical movement Hamas rejected calls from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and US Secretary of State Colin Powell today for the disarming of Palestinian militants. "The threats from Sharon and Secretary of State Colin Powell show that Israel and the United States want to limit the Palestinian government's role to ensuring the Zionist entity's security," Hamas official Ismail Haniye told a news agency.

The official stressed "the legitimate right of the Palestinians to resist" Israeli occupation.

"That's what the Palestinian factions have explained to the Palestinian Prime Minister" Mahmud Abbas in talks held in Gaza City on yesterday and today, he said. Sharon, at a joint press conference with Powell after talks in Jerusalem, said he expected the Palestinian government to make "genuine" efforts to disarm and dismantle Islamic militant groups if the peace process is to move forward.

"So long as there is terror, there will be no political process," he said.

The Prime Minister called on his Palestinian counterpart to wage a "genuine" struggle against the radical groups to disarm, punish them and dismantle their infrastructure.

For his part, Powell called on Abbas to implement "very quickly" reforms of the Palestinian security services.

Bureau Report