Hamas ready to 'change manners' after landmark Russia trip
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-03-06 09:25

Islamist militant group Hamas admitted it had to "change its manners" after winning Palestinian elections but showed no sign of compromise with Israel as it wrapped up a landmark trip to Russia.

Palestinian Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal (L) talks with Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexiy II (R) during their meeting in Moscow. Islamist militant group Hamas admitted it had to "change its manners" after winning Palestinian elections but showed no sign of compromise with Israel as it wrapped up a landmark trip to Russia. [AFP]

The comments came as Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal finished the group's first formal visit to a major power with a tour of the Kremlin and a meeting with Patriarch Alexei II, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, who called for talks with Israel.

But despite the softer Hamas tone, acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the talks were a mistake which would only encourage radical Islamists bent on the destruction of the Jewish state.

"Russia's contacts with Hamas would only encourage the organization not to make the changes that the international community is demanding of it in order for it to become a partner for dialogue," Olmert's office said he told Putin in a phone call.

After three days of insisting that the next move in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was up to Israel, Hamas leaders sought to sweeten their rhetoric Sunday while still rebuffing calls to recognize Israel and renounce violence.

"We don't say 'no' to everything," senior Hamas official Mohammed Nazzal told AFP here.

"We know that we are in a new phase, a new stage" following Hamas' victory in the January 25 Palestinian elections, he said.

"Hamas must change its manners. We know that very well. But what we are saying is that we want a response from the Israelis. If you want Hamas to change its policies, you must also request that the Israelis change their policies."

Hamas officials described their visit to Russia as a "breakthrough" they hoped would help the group -- listed as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and Europe -- establish legitimacy on the world stage.

"This visit will encourage many countries to contact Hamas and invite Hamas to their countries," Nazzal said.

Putin's invitation to Hamas to visit Moscow caught the other three members of the international Middle East "quartet" of mediators -- the United States, the European Union and the United Nations -- by surprise.

The high point of the trip was a meeting Friday between the Hamas delegation and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who made clear after the meeting that its purpose had been to convey the quartet's expectations of Hamas.

The quartet is insisting that Hamas renounce violence, recognize Israel and adhere to previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.

Lavrov did not deviate from this line during the meeting, but Hamas officials said the trip was a successful first step in the group's debut as a legitimate player on the international political scene.

"We consider this visit a success because it is a first step to talks," Nazzal said. "If you want to change things, you must start contacts."

The trip wound up Sunday night when the Hamas delegation met with some 45 ambassadors, mainly from Arab and Muslim nations, a Hamas official said.

"This visit was very important and very successful," Ezzat el-Risheq told AFP by telephone, adding that the delegation was due to depart very early Monday morning.

Israeli officials have called Putin's invitation to Hamas a "knife in the back" but Washington cautiously welcomed the talks Friday as a "useful" way to underscore the message of the "international community".

Putin has worked the phones heavily since the Friday meeting, placing calls to his counterparts from Egypt, France, Germany, Italy and the United States to brief them on the results.

Hamas meanwhile shrugged off a call from Osama bin Laden's deputy in the Al-Qaeda terrorist network to abandon all accords signed by previous Palestinian leaders with Israel.

"This is his own opinion," Nazzal said of the statement from Ayman al-Zawahiri broadcast on the Arabic Al-Jazeera television network.

"He has the right to it. But we are neutral. When Hamas wants to take a decision or take a stand it will be a step by the leadership of Hamas alone and will be in the interests of the Palestinian people."