Today, President Bush met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas... it's a meeting that members of Hamas will never enjoy. The meeting, in which Bush praised Abbas as "a man of peace who believes in a two-state solution" with an "inspiring vision", could not stand in greater contrast to the statement by Palestinian PM Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas. Haniyeh rejected conditions set by the Quartet for resuming direct financial aid to the Palestinian Authority.
"Conditions are being imposed on the Palestinian people. They want us to condemn the resistance and that we recognize agreements," Haniyeh told hundreds of Palestinians rallying in support of his Hamas-led government. "We are sticking by the national reconciliation document which does not recognize the legality of the occupation and reaffirms the legality of the resistance."
Meanwhile, this good news from New York. Secretary Rice was quoted in al-Hayat as saying that proposed Palestinian unity government is inadequate and falls short on key conditions set by the Quartet in that it doesn't include recognizing Israel's sovereignty, renounce terrorism or accept previous agreements. The Quartet is set to convene tomorrow to discuss the developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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