World
reaction to the Hamas victory: 'Fasten your seatbelts'
By
Simon Freeman and agencies
The Times
LONDON
Petroleumworld.com 01 27 06
President
Bush said today that a landslide win by the radical Islamist group
Hamas in Palestinian parliamentary elections was a reminder of
the "power of
democracy".
But as the
implications of the Hamas victory sank in around the world, Mr
Bush warned Hamas that it could never be considered a partner
in the Middle
East peace process until it renounced violence and its commitment
to the
destruction of Israel.
He also urged
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, to remain in office
despite the humiliation of his Fatah faction.
"If your
platform is the destruction of Israel, it means you're not a
partner in peace, and we're interested in peace," Mr Bush
said.
Israeli leaders
kept their counsel. The acting Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert,
banned officials and ministers from making any public statements
until his
security Cabinet could meet to discuss the victory of a group
that has
launched dozens of suicide attacks against its citizens.
But Tony Blair,
in Dublin for a peace summit with the Irish Prime Minister
Bertie Ahern, said the time had come for Hamas to turn its back
on violence.
"Of course,
we recognise the mandate for Hamas because the people have
spoken in a particular way in the Palestinian Authority,"
the Prime Minister
said. "But I think it is also important for Hamas to understand
that there
comes a point - and that point is now following that strong showing,
where
they have to decide between a path of democracy or a path of violence.
"The
only way we will ever get to a solution that is good for the
Palestinian people is based on democracy and peaceful coexistence
between
the state of Israel and an independent Palestinian state."
Even before
the official results of the election was announced, the European
Union said that it was reviewing hundreds of millions of euros
in aid that
it sends to the Palestinian Authority. "Oh dear, fasten your
seatbelts,"
said a senior EU figure on learning of the resignation of the
Palestinian
Prime Minister, Ahmed Qureia, and his Cabinet.
Kofi Annan,
the UN Secretary-General, said that any group wanting to take
part in democratic politics should disarm.
He told Reuters
Television at the World Economic Forum in Davos: "Any group
that wishes to participate in the democratic process should ultimately
disarm because to carry weapons and participate in a democratic
process and
sit in parliament, there is a fundamental contradiction and I'm
sure they
(Hamas) are thinking about that too."
Javier Solana,
the EU foreign policy chief, said that the result called into
question EU aid to the Palestinians, an issue which EU foreign
ministers
would discuss next Monday.
"The
EU will express its views and prospects for co-operation with
the
future Palestinian government in the light of that discussion
and of
developments on the ground," Senor Solana said.
Brussels pledged
some ?280 million in aid alone to the Palestinians in 2005.
It has earmarked funds to build a cargo terminal at Gaza airport
and sent a
monitoring mission to the Gaza Strip border with Egypt.
"It might
be a bit difficult to continue to commit European taxpayers' money
to a Palestinian Authority which would not be committed to a peaceful
dialogue with Israel," said one diplomat.
Silvio Berlusconi,
the Italian Prime Minister, said that Hamas's victory was
the worst possible result.
"If this
news was confirmed, everything we had hoped for, that chance for
peace between Israel and Palestine, is postponed to who knows
when," Signor
Berlusconi said.
But in the
Arab world and around the Middle East the apparent landslide was
greeted with jubilation as a triumph which would inspire other
Islamist
militant groups committed to fighting Israel and America's influence
in the
region.
In Iran, which
is accused by Israel and the United States of supplying Hamas
with weapons and funding, state-run radio said that the vote showed
that
Palestinians support resistance against Israel.
"Now
the real representatives of the Palestinian people have come to
power,"
said Javad Majidi, a student at Iran's Tehran University.
Jihad-Daneshgai,
a semi-governmental cultural body active in Iranian
universities, congratulated Hamas in a statement, saying the victory
"angers
the arrogant leaders of the US and the occupiers of Jerusalem".
President
Ahmadinejad of Iran met the leaders of Hamas and other militant
groups in Damascus last week, although the regime insists it only
gives the
groups moral support.
"What
happened was tantamount to an earthquake," said Muhammad
Jalbout, a
Palestinian living in Syria.
"This
is a victory to all the region's free people," added Ayyoub
Muhanna, a
29-year-old Lebanese who owns a spare parts shop in the southeast
town of
Rashaya. "The Palestinians gave their vote to the party that
gave of its
blood."
Some predicted
that Hamas's victory will spur other Islamist groups in the
region to seek more political participation. It will give them
a major
boost," said Dia'a Rashwan, an Egyptian expert on Islamic
movements.
Essam el-Aryan,
a spokesman for Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, which recently
increased the number of its seats in Egypt's parliament from 17
to 88, said
the Brotherhood was jubilant.
"This
is a great victory for Hamas," he said. But he added that
the
organisation now faces the challenge "of maintaining good
relations with the
Arab governments and world powers to secure support for the Palestinian
cause".
Times
Online January 26, 2006
Copyright
© 2006 The Times.
All rights reserved
