Obama: Change US Law On Hamas

By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Courtesy Of The Daily Star

US President Barack Obama's administration has asked Congress to allow continued aid to Palestinians, even if officials linked to Hamas become part of the government, The Los Angeles Times reported Monday. The move has alarmed congressional supporters of Israel, the paper reported.

Under the existing law, any US aid would require that the Palestinian government recognize Israel, renounce violence and agree to follow past Israeli-Palestinian agreements. Hamas does not meet these criteria.

The daily said the administration had requested the changes this month as part of an $83.4 billion emergency spending bill that also contains funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The bill would also provide $840 million for the Palestinian Authority as well as for rebuilding Gaza after the Israeli military assault earlier this year.

But the Obama administration is not sure how to deliver the aid to Gaza because of the restrictions on dealing with Hamas, the report said.

The Palestinians are watching for signs that the new Democratic team at the White House might be more sympathetic to Palestinians than the administration of former President George W. Bush, The Times said.

The paper quoted Republican Representative Mark Steven Kirk as saying that the proposal was like agreeing to support a government that "only has a few Nazis in it."

US officials insist that the new proposal doesn't amount to recognizing or aiding Hamas, the report said.

However, the request underscores the quandary faced by the Obama administration in its efforts to broker peace in the Middle East.

Obama has repeatedly called for a separate Palestinian state. But negotiating a peace agreement will be difficult without dealing with Hamas, which won Palestinian elections in 2006, The Times said. Hamas, despite its election victory, was prevented from governing by Israel.

Meanwhile, rival Palestinian delegations from Fatah and Hamas met in the Egyptian capital Monday, in what could be their last attempt at reconciliation.

The delegations met for three-way talks with Egypt's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, the official MENA news agency reported.

The meetings - the fourth round since March - are expected to last at least three days, senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath told AFP.

Nabil Amr, the Palestinian ambassador to Cairo, said he hoped this round "would be the last before an agreement [is reached], because a time-limit must be set."

On Sunday, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization warned that this would be the last attempt at inter-Palestinian reconciliation if talks failed.

The Fatah team is headed by former Prime Minister Ahmad Qorei, while the Hamas delegation is led by member Moussa Abu Marzouk.

The rival factions are expected to discuss the formation of a national unity government and its program, the reform of security apparatuses and the drafting of a new electoral law.

Abbas told a political rally in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Monday that if the parties managed to form a unity government, the Cabinet would have to abide by past Israeli-Palestinian accords.

"It is the government and its members that should respect such deals and not movements," Abbas said, referring to the Hamas movement's refusal to recognize past deals.

A new cabinet must also tackle the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections "before January 24, 2010," Abbas said.

Amr urged Hamas, to "look at the situation realistically and to deal more positively with the international situation."

"The lack of harmony with the international situation means we will not receive any support, on any level, and I believe we are not self-sufficient enough to rebuild Gaza," Amr said.

International donors have pledged $4.5 billion in aid to the Palestinians, much of it for the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip where over 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed in the turn-of-the-year Israeli offensive.

But the aid was promised to Abbas' government, not to Hamas, and no reconstruction aid has been allowed into the territory.

Hopes for progress appeared dim at the start of the talks, with Hamas predicting obstacles and Fatah admitting there were "still many issues to cover."

"But we insist on reaching an agreement," Shaath said.

On Sunday, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said this round of talks would be "the most difficult."

The two sides began their negotiations in Cairo on March 10, but so far the talks have made little headway in healing the deep rift between the rival movements.

Discussions were suspended for three weeks on April 2 and a few days later Egypt proposed adjourning efforts to form a unified government and instead setting up a committee to coordinate two rival cabinets.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed doubt that the rival Palestinian factions would clinch a deal on a unity government. - AFP with The Daily Star