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| Qatar's emir criticizes Western attitudes to Hamas |
| 2006-11-16 |
| STRASBOURG (AFP) - Qatar's emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, criticized Western countries for their attitude toward the embattled Palestinian government led by the militant group Hamas. "The Palestinian government, formed by Hamas in accordance with the free will of the Palestinian people, should have the opportunity to work for the people who elected it," he told the European Parliament. But "instead of rewarding the Palestinian people for practising democracy, something rarely witnessed in our region, they have been punished for it," with an international embargo, he said. "Is this not a double standard: to demand free elections, and then object to the results?" said the emir, the first Gulf nation head of state to address the European assembly in Strasbourg. Hamas swept Palestinian elections in January -- deemed free and fair by the EU -- but its government faces collapse under an international embargo for refusing to recognize Israel, renounce violence or accept past peace accords. Qatar has been closely involved in trying to break the political deadlock. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #5 Glad the Schick is flapping his jaws. Now we're sure where he stands. Wrong side of the tracks. |
| Posted by: SpecOp35 2006-11-16 18:26 |
| #4 Zen, He wants us to give them money for killing Jews. |
| Posted by: Elmereter Hupash6222 2006-11-16 13:04 |
| #3 "The Palestinian government, formed by Hamas in accordance with the free will of the Palestinian people, should have the opportunity to work for the people who elected it," he told the European Parliament. They're still killing Jews. What more does he want? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-11-16 11:31 |
| #2 I guess he forgot about the vitriol, and the rockets and the boom-vests. Democracy is a process, not an end-state. If you elect dirt-bags, expect a response. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2006-11-16 10:00 |
| #1 Democracy allows people to make very bad choices when voting. It also means people are responsible for their bad choices and will live with the repercussions. Pals elected a terrorist government. pals elected to follow a path of violence and death. Freely chosen this. So stop whining. Or choose to change your minds. |
| Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 2006-11-16 08:21 |