EU in Palestine election row
The EU has become embroiled in a row over aid funding and political self-determination in Palestine, with foreign affairs chief Javier Solana attracting criticism from the political wing of Hamas.
Mr Solana said over the weekend that European taxpayers would have a hard time supporting a Palestinian party that does not renounce violence and advocates Israel's destruction.
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"It would be very difficult for the help and the money that goes to the Palestinian Authority to continue to flow", he said according to press reports.
His statements refer to the fact that Islamic resistance movement Hamas could win next month's Palestinian election, with the group on a list of terror organisations in both the EU and US.
On Monday (19 December), the political leader of Hamas, Khalid Mashaal, dismissed Mr Solana's threat, saying it is a "flagrant interference" in Palestine's internal affairs, writes the Jerusalem Post.
"So long as people have opted for democracy, they should respect its results and should not confiscate the right of the Palestinian people to choose [their leaders]", Mashaal said.
A spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has also stated that all parties must have the right to take part or the elections would not be democratic.
Hamas emerged as the strongest party in local elections on the West Bank last week, taking control of 81 localities inhabited by 1.1 million Palestinians, including important municipalities like Jenin, Nablus and Al-Bireh.
In the meantime, president Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction, which has dominated Palestinian politics for years, has split in two.
Repeated accusations of corruption within the Palestinian ruling party have also made Hamas appear a more feasible alternative.
According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Hamas' Mr Mashaal on Monday also reiterated that Hamas would not renew a truce with Israel when it expires at the end of the year, should it be elected.
The palestinian elections are due at the end of January 2006.
The EU became directly involved in the peace process when it opened its own police mission on Palestine's Rafah border with Egypt last month.