Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Egypt took a tough line with Hamas on Wednesday, setting a renunciation of violence and the recognition of Israel as conditions for the Islamist movement to form the next government.
| Right. Any one of them is likely to happen. |
After a meeting in Cairo between Abbas and President Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian Intelligence chief Omar Suleiman urged Hamas to take steps on three key issues. “One, to stop the violence. Two, it should become a doctrine for them to be committed to all the agreements signed with Israel. Three, they have to recognise Israel,” he told reporters. “If they don’t do it, Abu Mazen (Abbas) will not ask them to form the government. Abu Mazen will (instead) form the government with other parties,” said Suleiman, who attended the meeting and also met Abbas on Tuesday. “If they don’t accept to commit themselves to these issues, nobody will deal with them,” said Suleiman.
| Doesn't matter. If they've got a majority in the Paleoparliament they'll be free to obstruct anything the minority gummint tries to do. |
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni also held talks with Mubarak shortly after Abbas. “We are in a very sensitive situation. We shared, President Mubarak and myself, ideas about the situation in the region and it was for me very enlightening,” she said before a meeting with her Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit. |