Hamas Rejects Al Qaeda, Rebuts Abbas Claims

Hams movement denied any link with Al-Qaeda and rejected latest statements by president Mahmoud Abbas, said a Hamas leader.
 
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday that the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas protects Al-Qaeda network and provides it with a safe haven in Gaza .
 
“Al-Qaeda enters Gaza Strip through Hamas”, said Abbas  in an interview with Italian state-run television in the City of Ramallah, the West Bank, ahead of Tuesday meeting with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
 
Abbas added:” Hamas protects Al-qaeda and with its bloody conduct, it has come closer to Al-Qaeda. Thus, Gaza is in danger and needs help.”
 
Abbas vowed that his secular movement, Fatah:” will never hold any dialogue with Hamas.”


Hamas, which controlled Gaza Strip last month after defeating forces loyal to president Abbas, has been previously criticized by Al-Qaeda Second-in-Command, Ayman Al-Zawahiri. Al-Zawahiri accused Hamas of serving US interests.
 
Abbas Should Apologize to All Palestinians
 
For his part, Osama Hamdan, a Hamas leader and the moderate movement’s representative in Lebanon, said in a statement to Ikhwanweb:” Abbas statement reveals the confrontational rhetoric bu Mazen is using handling Palestinian national affairs, to the extent that he considers himself only a leader of an organization [Fattah] not a president for all Palestinians. He [Abbas] has been blocking any possible solution for the month long crisis. What adds pain to insult is that he releases several statements that only harm Palestinian interests”
 
Hamdan added “Abu Mazen knows very well the ideology and attitudes of Hamas. Hamas has been resisting the occupation and hasn’t battled with any party except the Israeli occupation. Hamas protected the Palestinian national unity and acted wisely when it assumed power after being freely elected by the Palestinian people. It punished lawbreakers who tried to use the security services to violate rights of the Palestinian people through spying on the Palestinians, helping Israeli occupation forces in assassinating Palestinian iconic leaders and spying on Arab countries. Hamas movement has done all these out of its feeling of responsibility towards the Palestinian people”
 
Attitude towards Al-Qaeda
 
Regarding Hamas attitude towards Al-Qaeda network, Hamdan said:
 
“There is a huge difference between the ideology of Hamas and that of Al-Qaeda”.
Hamdan confirmed that Hamas rejects Al-Qaeda method in dealing with various issues and that there is no ideological link between Hamas and Al-Qaeda.


Regarding Mahmoud Abbas pledge that he won’t hold any dialogue with Hamas movement, Hamdan said:
 
Mahmoud Abbas tries to win US and Israeli sympathy and support. I think our real affiliation should be our people first, before any other foreign powers.”
 
Osama Hamdan concluded with a rhetorical question:” Is Abu Mazen really keen on his affiliation to the Palestinian, or is he only more keen on his affiliation to others?. This question should be answered by Abu Mazen alone.”


Other Topics:


The War of Words between Hamas and al-Qaeda
Jake Lipton, Washington Institute., US
Hamas Dismisses Zawahiri’s Criticism
Ikhwanweb – Beirut , Lebanon