GAZA – The new Hamas leader in Gaza said today President Bush is the enemy of God and Islam but stopped short of threatening revenge on Americans as he has on Israel for its killing of the militant group's founder.
Driven underground by Israel's vow to wipe out the remaining Hamas leadership by air strike, Abdel Aziz Rantissi emerged briefly for a fiery open-air speech before 5,000 people in the main courtyard of Gaza City's Islamic University.
Israeli warplanes roared overhead at one point during his address and the crowd gazed skyward nervously. But Rantissi seemed unmoved and kept speaking. He was flanked by armed bodyguards and stood on a podium close to the throng.
Rantissi, who last June survived an Israeli missile strike of the kind that killed Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin a week ago, said Thursday's U.S. veto of a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Yassin's killing was no surprise.
"We realize that Bush is the enemy of God, the enemy of Islam and Muslims. America declared war on God. (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon declared war on God and God declared war on America, Bush and Sharon," he said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30690-2004Mar28.html