"Am I therefore become your enemy,because I TELL YOU THE TRUTH...?"
(Galatians 4:16)

Hamas welcomes "new spirit" from Abbas

GAZA/RAMALLAH-The leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip welcomed on Thursday what he called a "new spirit" of dialogue from the Palestinian president but it was unclear how far the rival factions were moving to end a year-old schism.Aides to President Mahmoud Abbas strongly rejected suggestions that Abbas had employed any warmer tone toward his Islamist opponents in Gaza during a keynote speech on Wednesday.That view was echoed in Washington after Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, spoke by telephone with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who opposes contact with Hamas unless it drops its hostility to Israel and ends attacks on the Jewish state.The flurry of debate on relations between Hamas and Abbas's secular Fatah movement coincided with Palestinian commemorations of the Israeli capture of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967 and the first anniversary of the outbreak of fighting that saw the Islamists rout Fatah forces in Gaza and take control there.The schism has hampered Abbas in efforts to negotiate for a Palestinian state in U.S.-sponsored talks with Israel although it also brought an end to Western sanctions on the Fatah-run West Bank after Abbas fired the elected Hamas-led government.Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, whom Abbas dismissed as prime minister a year ago, said: "We welcome President Abu Mazen's call for a national and comprehensive dialogue and view positively to the new spirit that appeared in the speech."Our hands are outstretched to the brothers in the homeland ... We confirm our readiness to make dialogue succeed as quickly as possible and to show the flexibility needed from all sides."Aides to Abbas, who on Wednesday had called for "a national and comprehensive dialogue" with Hamas, were quick to insist the president wanted only discussion on the implementation of a recent Yemeni diplomatic initiative which called for Hamas to give up its hold on Gaza -- not a debate on mutual concessions.

As in the days of Noah...
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