Speaking from Yemen on Monday, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said on al-Jazeera TV that "Hamas won't give up the option of armed resistance against the occupation," and that "[resistance, i.e. terrorism] is a strategic option that will not be retreated from until the liberation of all the occupied Palestinian territories from the river to the sea."
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, after a meeting with Mashaal, reaffirmed his country's support to the Palestinians' "struggle for regaining their legitimate rights and establishing an independent state with Jerusalem as capital." Mashaal was in Yemen to drum up political and financial support; three bank accounts were opened to collect donations for Palestinians.
"Those who believe that negotiations and accepting the proposed conditions would lead us to get our rights are deluded," Mashaal told an Islamist gathering on the next leg of his trip to Bahrain. He left Bahrain Tuesday heading to the oil-rich UAE for talks with officials there. He is also expected to visit Kuwait and Libya.
Hamas, with no background outside terrorism, has been unable to bring other Palestinian factions into the fold for their government. This is of course the fault of the U.S. government. Arabic News reports that "Hamas accused the U.S. of pressuring other Palestinian groups in order not to take part in a new government under its chairmanship and to justify its plans to attack the Palestinian people."
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