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| By: Associated Press |
| Published: May 2, 2006 |
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Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice voiced hope on Monday that Hamas would come around to accepting U.S. and European conditions for the newly elected Palestinian leaders to join in a peace process with Israel.
"If those political conditions can come into place, then perhaps we can move forward," Rice said as James D. Wolfensohn ended more than a year's service as a Middle East envoy to Israel and the Palestinians.
In the meantime, Rice said, the United States would continue to work with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "and see what we can do to support him" while accelerating assistance to the Palestinian people.
That aid is being channeled outside the Hamas-led government, which the United States and the European Union are boycotting because the Hamas, considered an international terror organization by the United States, refuses to disavow violence against Israel or recognize the Jewish state.
"We continue to hope that Hamas will take the will of the international community seriously," Rice said.
Next Tuesday, Rice plans to hold talks in New York with U.N., Russian and European officials on the stagnant peacemaking situation.
Wolfensohn's primary assignment had been to help in the withdrawal of Israeli troops and residents from Gaza. The area was turned over to the Palestinian Authority, now dominated by Hamas, which is considered responsible by Israel for dozens of attacks killing some 400 Israelis.
"I hope he will keep his uniform not very far from the door, because while conditions currently are very complicated in the Palestinian-Israeli issue, we all hope and all look toward the road map and hopefully a return to the road map," Rice said, referring to the blueprint for peacemaking adopted by the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.
Wolfensohn said the emphasis Hamas puts on the destruction of Israel made negotiations very difficult, "so it seemed to me that this was a good moment to offer my resignation."
The former president of the World Bank said if conditions changed he would be delighted to "be of help" again. |
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