GAZA - Hamas said on Thursday that European Union diplomats had met some of its newly elected mayors, an apparent shift in the EU's position towards the Palestinian group it designates a terrorist organisation.
| The EU has shifted from appeasing terror to bowing before it ... |
Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri's comments coincided with an Israeli newspaper report that the EU had given some low-level diplomats permission to meet representatives of the group's political wing.
There was no immediate comment from the 25-nation EU, based in Brussels.
| "Please don't ask us to say any more!" |
Masri said the mayors, elected in local council polls over the past several months, had discussed international assistance and the current de facto ceasefire with Israel with EU diplomats in recent meetings. "Hamas is open to dialogue with all countries except the Zionist enemy, which occupies the land and kills our people," Masri said.
In an unsourced report, the Haaretz daily said the EU decision had surprised the United States -- a co-sponsor with the EU, Russia and the United Nations of a Middle East peace "road map" -- and raised Israeli concerns. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw disclosed last week that diplomats from his country had met officials from Hamas's political wing on two occasions. He said Britain would not have contacts with Hamas leaders until the group renounced violence. |