Sunday, January 29, 2006

'Hamas ready to form Palestinian army'

From Ynet News (01.28.06, 15:03) ...

Khaled Mashaal, Hamas politburo chief, tells news conference in Damascus group ready to merge armed factions, including its military wing, to form army to defend Palestinian people News Agencies

Hamas is ready to merge armed factions including its military wing to form an army to defend the Palestinian people, a senior Hamas leader said on Saturday.

"We are willing to form an army like every country... an army to defend our people against aggression," Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal told a news conference in Damascus following the group's sweeping victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections.

..."Resistance is a legitimate right that we will practice and protect. Our presence in the legislature will strengthen the resistance," Mashaal said. "If people raised the issue of targeting civilians, we said and we say that when our enemy stops targeting civilians we will abide by that."

...Asked if a truce that ended at the end of 2005 will be renewed, Mashaal said "its results were not encouraging."

...Mashal vowed to work for Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails, which, he said, numbered 9,000.

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