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| By: Israel Insider staff and partners |
| Published: May 14, 2006 |
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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."
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.
Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by both the European Union and the United States, and has refused to comply with demands put forth by the Quartet of Mideast peacemakers - the EU, U.S., United Nations and Russia - to lay down arms, recognize Israel and accept previous peace agreements with Israel.
Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mark Regev, criticized Norway's decision to hold government-level talks with a Hamas official and said doing so was counterproductive to efforts to push the militant group to change.
"Israel strongly regrets the decision by the Norwegian government to become the first European country to grant a meeting to a Hamas official," Regev said. "Hamas has stubbornly refused to accept the international community's benchmarks and granting legitimacy to an unreformed Hamas cannot advance peace."
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 percent increase in its funding for U.N. Palestinian relief efforts, to 150 million kroner ($24.5 million), to help ease an economic crisis in Judea, Samaria and Gaza after the Hamas-led government took office.
AP contributed to this report. |
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