The political leader of the radical Palestinian Hamas group said Sunday that calls by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for his group to disarm were "rude" interference in internal Palestinian affairs.
"Marvin!"
"Yes, Madame Secretary?"
"Are we interfering with Paleo internal affairs again?"
"Well, um, yes, Madame Secretary."
"Good. Keep at it." |
In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Khaled Mashal also accused the United States of conspiring with Israel against the interests and rights of the Palestinian people.
Rice said last week that Hamas cannot participate in Palestinian politics if it remains armed. "You cannot simultaneously keep an option on politics and an option on violence," she said in a speech at Princeton University.
Rice stopped short of calling for a ban on Hamas' participation in parliamentary elections to be held in January. "We do, I think need to give the Palestinians some space to try and reconcile their national politics, but they're going to eventually have to disarm these groups," she said.
| And we'll be making popcorn. |
Mashal said her comments showed "complete bias to Israel in its campaign to limit Hamas' role in Palestinian political life." "Such [U.S.] statements confirm America's rude position and insistence on interfering in Palestinian internal affairs," Mashal told The Associated Press.
He said Palestinian policies were not subject to U.S. or Israeli dictation. "No one has the right to make the group choose between resistance and political life."
| Not about rights, sonny, it's about power. |
Mashal said American and Israeli attempts to prevent Hamas from taking part in the elections contradicted with their claims of promoting democracy. "Israel fights democracy in daylight with a U.S. green light," he said. Mashal, however, said Hamas is committed to the truce with Israel and had "no plans for escalation" despite the latest Israeli assassination and arrest campaigns against members of the group in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
| "So please don't kill us!" |
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