Hamas says asked by US to keep silent on talks
Islamist group source says senior American officials request contacts remain secret 'so as not to rouse Jewish lobby'
Roee Nahmias
Published: | 06.25.10, 19:04 / Israel News |
A senior Hamas figure said Friday that official and unofficial US sources have asked the Islamist group to refrain from making any statements regarding contacts with Washington, this following reports that a senior American official is due to arrive in an Arab country in the coming days to relay a telegram from the Obama Administration.
The Hamas figure told the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper that the Americans fear discussing the talks publicly would "rouse the Jewish lobby and other pressure groups in the US and cause them to pressure the administration to suspend all talks with Hamas."
The Hamas figure, who is close to Ismail Haniyeh, the prime minister of the government in Gaza, added, "This is a sensitive subject. The Americans don't want anyone to comment on it because this would catch the attention of pressure groups (in the US) and cause problems."
He said Hamas' exiled leadership in Damascus is overseeing the contacts behind closed doors.
On Wednesday a Washington-based Arabic newspaper quoted a senior official as saying that an American envoy is scheduled to meet with Hamas representatives in an Arab country and hand them a letter from the Obama Administration.
According to the report, the official said Washington has no choice but to work with Hamas due to its influence in the Arab and Islamic world.
Make sure to watch this fascinating video testimony about the pervasive Catholic-Islam connection.
Amazing testimony about the origin of Islam: the V...Both items thanks to Nurit.
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6 comments:
Jack sent this, with the comment:
'Well, I know whom I don't believe."
Obama adviser denies Hamas meeting
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by tikun | November 11, 2008 at 07:52 am
197 views | 0 Recommendations | 0 comments
Apparently some one is lying?
The office of the President-elect Barack Obama on Tuesday denied a report by Arab sources which claimed that a secret meeting was held between Hamas and Obama's aides in the Gaza Strip prior to the US general elections.
US President-elect Barack Obama. [file]
Photo: AP
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"This assertion is just plain false," Obama's Senior Foreign Policy Adviser Denis McDonough told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
Earlier, Hamas political adviser Ahmad Yousef claimed on Tuesday morning that before the US general elections, a secret meeting was held between officials from the group and President-elect Barack Obama's advisers in the Gaza Strip.
"We are maintaining contact with them", said Yousef who disclosed no further information as to the nature of the meeting.
In an interview with the London-based Al Hayat newspaper, Yousef reportedly said that contact between Hamas and Obama's advisers was first established over the Internet.
"We first made contact on the Internet and then met with some of them here in the Gaza Strip. They advised us not to reveal this information lest it influence the elections or become manipulated by [Republican candidate John] McCain's campaign".
Yousef added that he personally had friendly relations with a few of Obama's advisers whom he had met when he lived in the US.
"Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh will draft a congratulatory letter to Obama for his victory in the elections," added Yousef.
And here is a very relevant interview that appeared today on Arutz7 - with Aaron Klein, the author of Manchurian Candidate"
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/138357
Edith says:
This brings tears to my eyes, not because what it says about Obama but about the Jews who don't give a damn about it, say tsk. tsk and leave politics to others. Shame on all of you who stand by with hands and mouths folded
See this too:
Hamas Claims Meetings With U.S. Officials
Says White House Looking For Ways To 'Engage' Terror Group
July 01, 2010 By Aaron Klein WorldNetDaily
JERUSALEM – Hamas has held meetings with U.S. officials to discuss ways the Obama administration can engage in open dialogue with the Islamist organization, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza told WND yesterday.
The Hamas leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said recent meetings with U.S. officials took place in Europe and that more meetings are scheduled in the coming days and weeks.
The Hamas leader claimed the U.S. asked his group to alter its political platform to accept a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem.
Currently, Hamas' official charter demands the entire state of Israel. The charter also calls for the murder of Jews.
The Hamas figure told WND the U.S. is willing to make public its relations with Hamas if his group moderates its vision. He said Hamas was also asked to negotiate the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit as part of a larger rapprochement with Israel.
The Hamas leader told WND his group would not change its long-term position to reject Israel's existence even if that would translate into an invitation for Hamas chieftain Khaled Meshaal to visit Washington.
The senior Hamas official did say his group is willing to accept a 10-year renewable cease-fire with Israel if the Jewish state withdrew to what is known as the pre-1967 borders – which means the entire West Bank, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount.
The Hamas leader would not name which U.S. officials his group allegedly met in recent weeks.
He said the meetings were led by Hamas officials in Syria and abroad. He said the meetings were coordinated by deputies of Meshaal, who lives in exile in Syria.
Hamas Asked To Keep Quiet On Talks?
The Hamas leader's comments to WND follow a report in the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabia quoting a Hamas figure stating official and unofficial U.S. sources have asked the Islamist group to refrain from making any public statements regarding contacts with Washington.
That report also claimed a senior American official is due to arrive in an Arab country in the coming days to relay a telegram from the Obama administration.
Hamas has held meetings in the last year with former U.S. diplomats.
Last June, Thomas Pickering, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and the U.N as well as former secretary of state Madeleine Albright's deputy in the Clinton administration, met in Geneva with two Hamas leaders – Bassem Naim and Mahmoud al-Zahar. Naim is Hamas' health minister, while al-Zahar is the chief of Hamas in Gaza.
Also last year, former President Jimmy Carter visited the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where he met with Hamas officials.
In a recent WND interview, Ahmed Yousef, Hamas' chief political adviser in Gaza, stated Hamas is hopeful Obama will open dialogue with the Islamist group in spite of congressional restrictions on such talks.
During Carter's trip to the Gaza Strip, WND quoted senior sources in Hamas claiming Carter passed a message to Hamas from the Obama administration.
The sources did not disclose the content of the purported message or whether the communication was written or oral. They spoke on condition of anonymity, because they said Hamas had not yet reached a decision on officially releasing the information they were divulging.
Separately, in an interview with WND, Yousef refused to confirm or deny that any message was passed to his group from the White House.
Yousef said, however, Carter is the "right person" to serve as a middle man between Hamas and the Obama administration.
"If we have anything to communicate, Carter will be the right person to convey messages from the movement (Hamas) to this (Obama) administration or from the administration to the movement," said Yousef, speaking from Gaza.
See this too:
Hamas Claims Meetings With U.S. Officials
Says White House Looking For Ways To 'Engage' Terror Group
July 01, 2010 By Aaron Klein WorldNetDaily
JERUSALEM – Hamas has held meetings with U.S. officials to discuss ways the Obama administration can engage in open dialogue with the Islamist organization, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza told WND yesterday.
The Hamas leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said recent meetings with U.S. officials took place in Europe and that more meetings are scheduled in the coming days and weeks.
The Hamas leader claimed the U.S. asked his group to alter its political platform to accept a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem.
Currently, Hamas' official charter demands the entire state of Israel. The charter also calls for the murder of Jews.
The Hamas figure told WND the U.S. is willing to make public its relations with Hamas if his group moderates its vision. He said Hamas was also asked to negotiate the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit as part of a larger rapprochement with Israel.
The Hamas leader told WND his group would not change its long-term position to reject Israel's existence even if that would translate into an invitation for Hamas chieftain Khaled Meshaal to visit Washington.
The senior Hamas official did say his group is willing to accept a 10-year renewable cease-fire with Israel if the Jewish state withdrew to what is known as the pre-1967 borders – which means the entire West Bank, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount.
The Hamas leader would not name which U.S. officials his group allegedly met in recent weeks.
He said the meetings were led by Hamas officials in Syria and abroad. He said the meetings were coordinated by deputies of Meshaal, who lives in exile in Syria.
Hamas Asked To Keep Quiet On Talks?
The Hamas leader's comments to WND follow a report in the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabia quoting a Hamas figure stating official and unofficial U.S. sources have asked the Islamist group to refrain from making any public statements regarding contacts with Washington.
That report also claimed a senior American official is due to arrive in an Arab country in the coming days to relay a telegram from the Obama administration.
Hamas has held meetings in the last year with former U.S. diplomats.
Last June, Thomas Pickering, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and the U.N as well as former secretary of state Madeleine Albright's deputy in the Clinton administration, met in Geneva with two Hamas leaders – Bassem Naim and Mahmoud al-Zahar. Naim is Hamas' health minister, while al-Zahar is the chief of Hamas in Gaza.
Also last year, former President Jimmy Carter visited the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where he met with Hamas officials.
In a recent WND interview, Ahmed Yousef, Hamas' chief political adviser in Gaza, stated Hamas is hopeful Obama will open dialogue with the Islamist group in spite of congressional restrictions on such talks.
During Carter's trip to the Gaza Strip, WND quoted senior sources in Hamas claiming Carter passed a message to Hamas from the Obama administration.
The sources did not disclose the content of the purported message or whether the communication was written or oral. They spoke on condition of anonymity, because they said Hamas had not yet reached a decision on officially releasing the information they were divulging.
Separately, in an interview with WND, Yousef refused to confirm or deny that any message was passed to his group from the White House.
Yousef said, however, Carter is the "right person" to serve as a middle man between Hamas and the Obama administration.
"If we have anything to communicate, Carter will be the right person to convey messages from the movement (Hamas) to this (Obama) administration or from the administration to the movement," said Yousef, speaking from Gaza.
See also this article:
FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
Hamas Claims Meetings With U.S. Officials
Says White House Looking For Ways To 'Engage' Terror Group
July 01, 2010 By Aaron Klein © 2010 WorldNetDaily
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=173337
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