Blair: world could accept Hamas coalition

[cali]

Tony Blair has said that a Palestinian government that included members of Hamas could be acceptable to the international community - if it renounces violence and recognises Israel.


Tony Blair met with Mahmoud Abbas in Palestine this morning
The Prime Minister made his comments after talks with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, on the second day of his unannounced visit to the Middle East.

The international community has been boycotting Hamas, which the EU and the US consider a terrorist group, since it won elections in January.

<snip>


But the Prime Minister insisted that a Hamas coalition would have to renounce violence, recognise Israel and accept previous peace agreements with the Jewish state.

<snip>

Hamas has so far rejected international demands to recognise Israel, despite crippling economic sanctions that have caused widespread hardship in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Mr Abbas hopes that Hamas would moderate its rhetoric if it was part of a governing coalition.

<snip>

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/10/uabbas.xml

[Matilda]

1. That's big of the world, isn't it?

Given that Hamas was democratically elected by the Palestinian people.

How about "Hamas will recognise Israel if Israel and its partners recognise Hamas".

[Englander]

2. Interview with blair -

War is peace, & don't you forget it...




Blair tells Haaretz: Folly to ignore Iran's threats to Israel
By David Landau and Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondents

Western leaders are increasingly aware of the global nature of the struggle against Islamic extremism led by Iran, but within Western public opinion "there is a big battle to be won."

This somber assessment was offered here Sunday by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in an interview with Haaretz. The British leader, who just recently announced his intention to step down within a year, acknowledged that his own domestic political difficulties were closely tied with this "ideological battle" for British and Western hearts and minds.

After a day of prodding Israeli and Palestinian leaders to get back on the negotiating track, the prime minister treated his interviewers to some flashes of the old Blair magic, interspersed with philosophical, almost wistful reflections on the vicissitudes of international affairs and political fortunes.

Did you find Prime Minister Olmert different from when you met him last (in June)?
Obviously it's been a very traumatic, difficult time. When you lead a country through a crisis like that, it's a massive challenge. I found him extraordinarily focused and energetic and determined.

Did you give him any political advice?
He was more likely to be giving me political advice! What I did say was this... The important thing is for Israel to be always the country that is striving for peace but is sometimes forced into war. And that's why it's important that we got the resolution 1701, because that is a political framework within which the issues to do with Lebanon can be dealt with. And if we can, we should invigorate the peace process with the Palestinians.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/760956.html

[Englander]

3. Demonstrators make presence felt as Blair visits Lebanon

Will Woodward and Clancy Chassay in Beirut
Tuesday September 12, 2006
The Guardian

Demonstrations inside and outside Tony Blair's summit with the Lebanese prime minister, Fouad Siniora, marked the first visit by a British prime minister to the country yesterday.

As Mr Blair was speaking at a press conference by both leaders, a woman named as Caoimhe Butterley appeared a few feet from the leaders holding a banner which said: "Boycott Israeli apartheid."

She told reporters: "This visit is an insult to the memory of Lebanese, Palestinians and other Muslims. This visit is an insult to the memory of thousands of Lebanese who have died as a result of Blair's policies. Shame on you, Tony Blair."

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,,1870165,00.html