"If they (Americans) are worried, then they are stupid," Rantissi

GAZA CITY, March 24 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Hamas has no intention to target the United States and wants to avenge the assassination of its leader by killing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the group's new leaders said on Wednesday, March 24.

"If they (Americans) are worried, then they are stupid because we have said it many times that we will target only our enemy, the (Israeli) occupiers," Abdel-Aziz Rantissi told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday, March 24.

Rantissi announced on Tuesday, March 23, that he had been elected to head Hamas in Gaza one day after Israeli forces assassinated the group's spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

In a statement issued after Israel's assassination of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, its armed wing hinted that the United States could be targeted.

The U.S. government has warned all its nationals to leave the Gaza Strip and to defer travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

President George W. Bush, asked about Yassin's killing, said Tuesday that "Israel has the right to defend herself from terror," although Washington has insisted that it had no advance warning of the air strike.

In the immediate aftermath of Sheikh Yassin's assassination, Rantissi asserted that war is "open" with Israel.

The 56-year-old Rantissi survived an Israeli assassination attempt  in June 2003, suffering leg, arm and chest wounds in a missile attack on his car in central Gaza City.

No Ceasefire

It is normal that the reply to the enemy be equal to the crime," Meshaal

Rantissi ruled out the prospect of any ceasefire until Israel ends its occupation of the Palestinian territories. 

"As long as we are under aggression and occupation we are not ready to speak about a ceasefire," Rantissi said as he received condolences at a football stadium in Gaza after the Israeli assassination.

Rantissi told IslamOnline.net on Tuesday that "according to Hamas statutes I will be the leader of the movement in the Gaza Strip since I had been elected deputy to Sheikh Yassin in the latest elections".

Later, he told Aljazeera television that "the head of Hamas political bureau is Khaled Meshaal to whom we will remain obedient."

According to Hamas statues, the Damascus-based Meshaal, who has held the same post for several years, remains at the top of its hierarchy.

"I am the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, but Khaled Meshaal is the top leader of Hamas," he said.

Sharon Targeted

In another interview with the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper, Meshaal said he would like to see the assassination of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin avenged by targeting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

"It is normal that the reply to the enemy be equal to the crime," said Meshaal, the Damascus-based head of the Hamas political bureau.

"Since the enemy targeted our leaders and a great symbol such as Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the resistance has the right to target all the Zionist leaders," he said.

"I would hope that (Hamas) fighters would be able to target the main Zionist leaders such as Sharon," Meshaal said, adding that such a decision would have to be taken by the movement's military leadership.

He highlighted that the killing of Sheikh Yassin in an Israeli helicopter strike "will push the Palestinian fighters to re-examine their means and to modernize the resistance within Palestine", stressing that "all options are open."

ِAccording to Israeli public radio, Sharon personally supervised the assassination, which also killed seven other Palestinians, including several civilians.

Frozen

In another related development, Britain on Wednesday ordered British banks to freeze assets belonging to five senior members of Hamas, including those of Rantissi, the British Treasury said in a statement.

"Chancellor (of the Exchequer) Gordon Brown today instructed the Bank of England, as agent for Her Majesty's Treasury, to direct financial institutions that any funds which they hold for or on behalf of five senior members of Hamas must be frozen," the Treasury said.