Hamas official says Bush Mideast visit will be about Iran, not peace

Source: AP, 6-1-2008
DAMASCUS, Syria: U.S. President George W. Bush's upcoming visit to the Middle East is not about pushing the "Israeli"-Palestinian peace process forward but will instead focus on Iran, a senior Hamas official said Sunday.
Hamas' deputy leader Moussa Abu Marzouk told The Associated Press that Bush's eyes are pointed toward Iran rather than the Arab-"Israeli" peace process.
"It is very clear that Bush's eyes and mind at this time aim at Iran and how to deal with it, not the Palestinian cause," Abu Marzouk said in his Damascus office. He added that if Bush is genuine about peace he should put pressure on "Israel".
Bush is scheduled to begin his Mideast trip to "Israel" on Wednesday and will also visit the West Bank, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt as part of his push for a Middle East peace agreement.
Bush said in comments published Saturday that he will work with Mideast allies to develop a security plan to counter Iran during his visit.
The American president did not provide details about the plan, but Arab diplomats told the AP that they expect the U.S. president to offer closer military cooperation with moderate allies in the Persian Gulf, Egypt and Jordan.
Bush claimed Iran remained a threat because it continued to develop missiles that could deliver nuclear weapons and had resisted international demands to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for a reactor or fissile material for a bomb.
Also Sunday, Iranian envoy Ali Larijani, who is a close aide to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his representative at the powerful National Security Council, played down U.S. pressure on his country saying America cannot do much against Tehran.
"These threats have no roots and sound like the screams of old people that are not able to do anything. They (U.S.) should reevaluate their acts," Larijani told reporters in Syria when asked about Bush's threats to Iran. Larijani met Sunday with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa.