"The enemy of peace has been Hamas," charged Powell

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, June 20 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – During his talks with Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon Friday, June 20, in occupied Jerusalem, U.S. Secretary of State Collin Powell stepped up bellicose rhetoric against the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.

He dubbed the group "an enemy of peace" that always celebrates what he called as "terrorist activities."

Powell claimed that the "enemy of peace has been Hamas, especially over the last two weeks."

He threatened intolerance for Hamas, which combines attacks on Israel with an elaborate charity network for impoverished Gazans.

"Right now, Hamas is clinging to terror and celebrates the terrorist attacks we are seeing," Powell argued.

"The organization we are dealing with today right now has not demonstrated in my judgment that it is a partner for peace."

He said U.S. President George Bush "is committed that we must...keep moving forward and push through, blast through those who would try to stop us, who would try to keep us from our goal of peace through acts of violence and terror."

Speaking at a joint press conference after talks with Powell, Sharon urged the Palestinian government to make "genuine" efforts to disarm and dismantle resistance groups if the peace process is to move forward.

"So long as there is terror, there will be no political process," he alleged, calling on Palestinian Premier Mahmoud Abbas to disarm, punish and dismantle Palestinian resistance groups’ infrastructure.

"It is necessary to make sure that no independent terrorist organization whatsoever will exist in the field," said hawkish Sharon.

Powell, who flew in for a day of talks to revive flagging efforts to implement the roadmap, said Washington would stand by Abbas in his efforts to boost security and rein in Palestinian resistance groups.

He earlier reported progress in discussions on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from parts of the Gaza Strip they are occupying and the transfer of policing authority to the Palestinians.

Hamas Hits Back 

Powell’s campaign against Hamas will "encourage Sharon to continue his crimes," Haniyah asserted

Hamas officials immediately hit back at the terror accusation and calls by Sharon and Powell to disarm Palestinian resistance groups.

"This is a statement that reflects and proves that he is a little slave to the Zionists and to his master Sharon, that he is the real enemy of peace and justice in the world," the Israeli Haaretz newspaper quoted Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a Hamas leader, as saying.

"The threats from Sharon and Secretary of State Colin Powell show that Israel and the United States want to limit the Palestinian government's role to ensuring the Zionist entity's security," another Hamas official, Ismail Haniyah, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The official stressed "the legitimate right of the Palestinians to resist" Israeli occupation.

"That's what the Palestinian factions have explained to the Palestinian prime minister" in talks held in Gaza City over the past two days, he said.

Haniyah also slammed "the campaign led by Powell against Hamas" and accused the U.S. diplomat "of shutting his eyes to the Israeli massacres and terrorism.

"Powell will continue his political campaign against our people and our movement and his declarations will do nothing but encourage Sharon to continue his crimes," he said.