Source: alalam.ir, 31-7-2007
GAZA CITY -Sacked Palestinian premier Ismail Haniyeh has said the Islamic resistance movement Hamas would welcome Russian mediation between the Palestinian factions.
Haniyeh told reporters in Gaza that Hamas welcomes "any initiative, be it Palestinian, Arab, regional or international -- and notably of Russia -- to fill the gap between us and Fatah, to put an end to the crisis".
Haniyeh spoke as Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah was on a three-day visit to Russia, where he is due to meet with President Vladimir Putin Tuesday.
Russian press has reported Moscow hopes to play a key role as mediator as it maintains ties with Hamas.
Haniyeh called on Abbas to stop "decrees that isolate Gaza from the West Bank," and called for an inter-Palestinian dialogue "without conditions".
He also rejected anew early elections that Abbas has called for after Hamas overran the Gaza Strip on June 15 following a week of deadly battles.
"All elections have to fulfill two conditions," Haniyeh said.
"One, a national accord. Two, they have to be legal. Right now, these two conditions are not contained in the election call by Abu Mazen. It is therefore not possible to organize these elections."
Following Hamas`s control of Gaza, Abbas sacked the cabinet led by the resistance movement and appointed a new government of independents led by Salam Fayyad as premier.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Abbas Monday that Moscow regarded him as the "legitimate leader of all Palestinians", but the Russian press speculated that it would decline to halt its contacts with Hamas.