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Hamas Will Never Recognize Israel: Meshaal
 Defying international pressure, the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas said yesterday it would never recognize Israel but might be willing to negotiate terms for a temporary truce with the Jewish state. Khaled Meshaal, the top leader of Hamas which won last week's Palestinian parliamentary election by a landslide, made the offer to Israel ahead of negotiations between Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over the shape of the next government.Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, said he and other Hamas officials expected to meet Abbas in Gaza today to begin to "consult over the nature of the coming government" and to try to set a date for the first meeting of the Palestinian Parliament. The United States and European Union have demanded that Hamas renounce violence, disarm and change its charter calling for the destruction of the Jewish state or risk losing foreign aid to a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority. Posted by: Fred 2006-02-04 |
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