Log In | Register
LONDON, Jan. 30 — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and senior European envoys signaled today that there would no immediate suspension of aid for the Palestinian Authority following the victory by Hamas in last week's Palestinian elections, but they continued to warn that aid could be cut off once a Hamas-led government takes power in coming weeks.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at a news conference in London today.
Abbas and Hamas Leader Call for Continuation of Aid
In the first high-level diplomatic meeting after the crisis caused by Hamas's upset electoral triumph, Ms. Rice conferred with Secretary General Kofi Annan of the United Nations and with her European and Russian counterparts to decide what if anything could be done to salvage any chance for an Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation.
The diplomats' instinct, various officials said, was to avoid provoking an immediate confrontation with Hamas, especially as it puts together its regime. They were also trying to avoid actions seen as prejudging what Hamas will do and to keep the door open to aid if Hamas renounces violence and recognizes Israel's right to exist.
Their discussion came as the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, and a leader of Hamas today urged Western countries not to cut aid, citing the hardships it would impose on the impoverished Palestinians.
So far Hamas has disavowed any intention of changing its strategy or its covenants opposing the existence of Israel. But there is still hope, however tenuous, among some Europeans and Americans of some kind of modification of these tenets.
"We want to see them afloat, we want them to have a government and we want the next government to deal with the reality that it's got to govern," said a senior administration official involved in the meetings, which were still under way this evening in London.
- NEW YORK TIMES, STEVEN R. WEISMAN
