(Al-Ahram-Egypt) Sherine Bahaa - Hamas now has 80 out of 132 seats in the new Palestinian parliament, after four Hamas-endorsed independents joined the movement's 76 successful candidates. The group has also decided to name Jamal al-Khudairi as its candidate for Palestinian prime minister. Khudairi, a Gaza businessman and chairman of the board of the Islamic University in Gaza, ran for parliament as an independent with Hamas backing. In talks, Egypt's number two man, Omar Suleiman, head of General Intelligence, made three public demands of Hamas: "One, they should stop the violence. Two, it should become doctrine with them to be committed to all the agreements signed with Israel. Three, they have to recognize Israel." One Arab diplomat told Al-Ahram Weekly: "Any change on the political agenda of Hamas is very unlikely. They are an opposition resistance movement and they know it, and they know they were elected for this, so no way they can give it up that soon."
2006-02-10 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive