Hamas: We don't object to international supervision of elections
By Haaretz Service and Agencies
Israel Radio on Saturday quoted Hamas as saying it has no objections to inernational supervision of any new Palestinian elections. The recent armed takeover of the Gaza Strip by the militant group prompted the dissolution of the Hamas-Fatah unity government by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
"We don't have any fundamental objection to international supervision of the Palestinian election process," the radio quoted Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad as telling the Al-Jazeera satellite channel.
Abbas appealed Friday for the deployment of an international force so that the divided Palestinians could hold new elections, and insisted he was determined to isolate the militant Hamas.
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Hamad stressed, however, that Abbas' call for international forces in Gaza "would only complicate matters."
Abbas, in Paris for his first talks with Nicolas Sarkozy since he was elected French president last month, won France's full support for the Palestinian Authority and $20 million in aid.
The PA chairman lashed out at the putschists of Hamas for their violent takeover of Gaza earlier this month, and said he hopes to stage presidential and parliamentary elections before the end of the current terms. Abbas' emergency cabinet, devoid of Hamas representation, now controls only the West Bank.
"I proposed an international force in Gaza to Sarkozy to ensure the elections can be held peacefully," Abbas said. "Elections necessitate a certain stability in security."
Israel, the United Nations and the European Union have all expressed willingness to consider the idea of an international peacekeeping force, though Hamas has rejected it.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, at a news conference with Abbas in Paris on Friday night after the two met, said only, "An international force cannot replace the peace process."
Kouchner urged a renewal of broader Mideast peace efforts. "Our Israeli friends and our Palestinian friends can count on France."
Sarkozy offered solid support to Abbas and pledged $20 million in direct aid to the Palestinian Authority, renewed after a 16-month embargo following Hamas' election win last year.
"We want your victory. You are the guarantor of peace," Sarkozy told Abbas, according to his spokesman David Martinon.
"France's goal is the creation of a free, independent and viable [Palestinian] state," Sarkozy said. He reiterated, however, France's demands for the release of Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, captured by Palestinian militants a year ago.
Abbas insisted the Palestinian Authority remains committed to democracy despite all that has happened in recent days. He refused, however, any dialogue with those who led what he called the bloody and ferocious coup d'etat against Palestinian legitimacy, referring to Hamas.
Sarkozy is to continue talks on the Middle East with Jordanian King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni next week
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