Hamas Leader Says Group Won't Disarm GAZA
CITY, Gaza Strip - Rebuffing the incoming Palestinian prime minister, the
leader of Hamas made a rare public appearance Wednesday and said the militant
group will not disarm, agree to a truce or join the new Palestinian government.
Sheik Ahmed Yassin
struck a defiant tone against incoming Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia,
who has complained of the "chaos of weapons" in the Palestinian areas,
proposed a comprehensive truce with Israel and invited Hamas into his
government. The setting of
Wednesday's news conference reflected Hamas' growing concerns for the safety of
its leaders. Yassin spoke to journalists at a mosque, presumably a site Israel
would not attack because of religious sensitivities. He also was not flanked by
senior Hamas officials, as would have been customary. Yassin, along with
other Hamas leaders, has been marked for death by Israel. He survived a Sept. 6
airstrike, and has only left his home once since then. Qureia has not said
what steps, if any, he would take to get illegal weapons off the street, as
required by the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan that envisions a
Palestinian state by 2005. Qureia and other officials have said they won't use
force against the militants. Yassin said Wednesday
that Hamas would not disarm voluntarily. "The weapons that
our people carry to defend our land and our people, nobody can confiscate
them," he said. "We can only talk about this after liberating the
land. Taking weapons means surrender and defeat." Yassin also said Hamas
would not agree to a truce with Israel; a unilateral cease-fire declared by
Hamas and other militants June 29 collapsed in a burst of violence several weeks
later. "There is no place
to talk about a truce because the enemy is continuing his aggression, killing
and settlement activities," Yassin said, but stopped short of saying there
would be continued Hamas bombings and shootings. Qureia had also proposed
that Hamas join his government. In the past, Hamas — the largest
Palestinian opposition group — has said it wanted nothing to do with the
Palestinian Authority (news
- web
sites), a product of interim peace deals with Israel the group opposes. Yassin on Wednesday
renewed his opposition to a broad coalition. "We refuse to be
part of any government under (Israeli) occupation," Yassin said. "If
this government wants to liberate our land and our sacred places, we will
surely welcome it. But if it wants to push us to surrender, we will reject
it." Israel Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon (news
- web
sites), meanwhile, said in remarks published Wednesday that a large-scale
swap of prisoners with Lebanese guerrillas is closer than ever, but will still
require Cabinet approval. Sharon also said Israel
will not release Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouti in the emerging
deal with Hezbollah, and that Israel will insist on DNA testing of three bodies
of Israeli soldiers that are to be handed over. Any of the issues
raised by Sharon in an interview with the Maariv daily could hold up or torpedo
the German-brokered deal. Israeli Cabinet approval is not assured and
Barghouti's attorney has said the Palestinian leader, considered a possible
successor to Yasser Arafat (news
- web
sites), tops Hezbollah's list of prisoners it wants freed. Sharon's comments
marked the first time he has spoken publicly on a possible prisoner exchange. "We are closer
than before (to a deal), but it's still far from being finished," he told
Maariv. In the emerging swap, Israel
would release several hundred prisoners, including Lebanese guerrilla leaders
Abdel Karim Obeid and Mustafa Dirani, in exchange for ailing Israeli
businessman Elhanan Tannenbaum and the bodies of three soldiers kidnapped by
Hezbollah in 2000. Israel had seized Obeid
and Dirani in 1989 and 1994, respectively, as bargaining chips for the release
of Israeli airman Ron Arad, who was shot down over Lebanon in 1986 and is
believed by Israel to be held by Iran. Sharon said he is
certain Tannenbaum is alive, but that his health is deteriorating, and
suggested Israel can't wait much longer to win his freedom. He said he would seek
Cabinet approval for what he said would be a complex decision. "Let there
be not one minister who is not part of the discussion," Sharon said.
"I want the ministers to be personally responsible for this
decision." Ministers would be
forced to choose between bringing home captives at any price and not freeing
those involved in deadly attacks on Israelis. The deal would likely be lopsided,
leading to the release of several hundred Arab prisoners in exchange for one
Israeli captive. Israel has agreed to
such a ratio in the past, including in 1985 when three Israeli POWs were traded
for 1,150 Palestinian prisoners. Palestinian sources say
Israel has agreed in principle to release imprisoned leaders of militant groups
and those with life sentences. However, Sharon said
that Barghouti "cannot be a condition for this deal," saying he was
"responsible for acts of murder, and he is going to prison." An Israeli security
official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said about 300 prisoners would be
freed. Palestinian sources
insisted Barghouti would be among them, despite Israel's public denials.
Barghouti, a Palestinian legislator, is on trial for alleged involvement in
attacks that killed 26 Israelis and insists the country has no right to try him
since he was abducted from the West Bank. Also in Gaza, a
16-year-old Palestinian was killed in a gunbattle between Palestinians and
Israeli troops searching for weapons-smuggling tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt
border. The firefight erupted
when 20 Israeli tanks and armored bulldozers entered the Rafah refugee camp.
Mohammed Hamdan, a helper of the gunmen, was killed in the gunbattle, hospital
officials said, and more than a dozen Palestinians were wounded. Palestinian
witnesses said troops razed two houses. Charles Mims |
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