US denies contacts with Hamas (Agencies) Updated: 2004-12-15 09:23
The United States denied it had held contacts with Hamas as a leader of the
radical Palestinian group has claimed.
"We don't conduct business with designated terrorist organisations. Hamas is
a designated terrorist organisation," US State Department spokesman Richard
Boucher told reporters.
"We are not aware of anything at all that would substantiate such a
reference," he said in reference to an interview given by Hamas political bureau
chief Khaled Meshaal to the BBC.
In the interview, Meshaal suggested that Hamas was gaining international
legitimacy and that it was communication with the European Union and the United
States behind the scenes. "The American administration, which also put us on
terror lists and criticizes us, contacted us in the past months," the
Palestinian official said.
Hamas is leading an armed struggle against Israel and has called for a
boycott of the Palestinian election on January 9. Other radical Palestinian
groups such as Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad are also on the US terrorist
list.
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