JPost

(08:45) Hamas leader to US envoys: Don't waste your time

In response to the arrival in the region yesterday of top American envoys, senior Hamas political leader Khaled Mishaal said the US should not waste its time attempting to force the Palestinians to accept a settlement with Israel.

In a telephone statement made to the mourners of Hamas man Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, killed in a Friday night Israeli missile strike, Mishaal said there would be no peace or stability in the region unless the Palestinians' demands are met.

Abu Hanoud was killed on Friday night after at least two previous failed attempts that cost the lives of three IDF soldiers. Abu Hanoud, leader of the Izzadin Kassam military wing of Hamas, was involved in the Sbarro and Dolphinarium suicide bombings, in which 36 were killed and over 200 wounded.

"If you want stability in Palestine then you must force the Zionists to leave the Palestinian lands," Mishaal said to the American envoys. "Do not waste your efforts; we cannot coexist with Sharon, Mofaz, Eliezer and Palestine could be only Palestinian."

Mishaal's remarks appeared today on the Hamas website.

Palestinian Authority Minister of Culture and Information Yasser Abed Rabbo took the opposite tack, saying that American pressure - on Israel - is essential if a settlement between the two sides is to be reached.

"Without a strong American position which is determined to end the Israeli escalation of violence, the American envoy's mission will fail and Sharon will use it to cover his crimes and to continue in his war against the Palestinian people," Abed Rabbo said in a statement.

He added that "we don't want any new proposals from the American side because we have plenty of proposals already on the table. What we need is to implement these plans and not to invent new ones, and the United States must play an effective role in monitoring the implementation of the past proposals, specially the Mitchell plan."

For more on the regional visit of US State Department envoy Anthony Zinni, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs William Burns, and senior State Department official Aaron Miller, click here.

-- Anonymous, November 27, 2001