Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen has failed to convince the leading Islamic militant group Hamas to call a halt to attacks on Israel. Abu Mazen, under pressure from Israel and the United States to bring an end to the 32-month-long Palestinian uprising, met with senior Hamas leader Abdul Aziz Rantissi and two other top figures, Ismail Abou Shanab and Ismail Haniya. He was accompanied by his minister of state for security, Mohammed Dahlan.
| Rantissi and Shanab are both politburo members. Haniya's a Gaza bigshot. Dahlan's not dead yet. I doubt the fundos will try to kill him — too public a figure. I think they'll try and disgrace him and drive him out of town... |
After the meeting, Mr Haniya said Hamas would only end its suicide attacks in Israel if the Israeli army put an end to its policy of targeted killings of key militants, stopped its incursions into Palestinian territory and released Palestinian prisoners. However, he said the battle against the Israeli military and against Jewish settlers would continue. Characterising the meeting with Abu Mazen as "important and positive," Mr Haniya said he had reiterated Hamas' views on the "right of the Palestinian people to resist the occupation".
| "Without boomers, we ain't squat. So we'll keep right on boomin', whether it accomplishes anything or not..." |
For his part, Palestinian information minister Nabil Amr, who also attended the meeting, described it as a "serious point of departure for a national dialogue that will strengthen the ranks of Palestinians". Meanwhile, a leader of Hamas' smaller rival, Islamic Jihad, Mohammed al-Hindi, said he had been called on to meet with Abu Mazen, but that no date had been set.
| IJ won't stop booming, either. |
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