Israel’s Olmert tells Bush no Middle East peace progress if Hamas in govt
Israel’s Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told US President George W. Bush today that there could be no progress in the Middle East peace process if Hamas entered a Palestinian government.
In their first telephone conversation since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was admitted to hospital, Olmert updated the US leader on Sharon’s health, as well as discussing this month’s Palestinian parliamentary election which is being contested by the radical Islamist movement Hamas, said the prime minister’s office.
Olmert told Bush that Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas must ‘take steps against terrorism and disband the terrorist organisations because otherwise there can be no progress with an administration in which there are terrorist organisations as members,’ a statement said.
Israel and the United States both regard Hamas, responsible for the majority of attacks during a five-year Palestinian uprising, as a terrorist organisation despite its embrace of the democratic process.
More: forbes.com
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