It's not just Sweden.
OSLO (AP)--Norwegian Foreign Ministry officials met with Hamas Cabinet minister Atef Adwan in Oslo on Saturday and called on the militant group now leading the Palestinian government to renounce violence and recognize Israel. Kaare Eltervaag, who heads the Foreign Ministry's division for Middle Eastern affairs, told Adwan that Hamas "has not lived up to our expectations," according to a statement on the government Web site. "We realize that it takes time to change attitudes," the statement said. "But the Palestinian government must take clear steps in the right direction."
| "But if they don't, we understand, since it takes time," he added in a respectful tone of voice. |
Adwan was in Norway this weekend after a weeklong visit to Sweden, where he met with eight lawmakers, but no Cabinet members or Foreign Ministry officials.
Adwan said earlier this week that Hamas will continue to resist the demands until Palestinians get an independent state. "Give us a country, a state, and then ask us to recognize Israel," he said at a news conference in Stockholm Tuesday.
On Friday, Norway announced a 50% increase in its funding for U.N. Palestinian relief efforts, to $24.5 million, to help ease an economic crisis in the West Bank and Gaza after the Hamas-led government took office.
"Mo' money, kufr!" |