Rice, Annan Oppose Participation By Hamas in Palestinian Arab Politics
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

UNITED NATIONS – A diplomatic group known as the quartet yesterday said it “ultimately” opposes the participation of terrorist groups like Hamas in Palestinian Arab politics. At the same time the group, including Secretary of State Rice, said Hamas would not be barred from participation in an upcoming election.
The contradiction was partly due to conflicts among members of the quartet, which leads Middle East diplomacy. It also exposed the State Department’s muddled position on the role of terrorists in the region’s transition to democracy.
“Ultimately, those who want to be part of the political process should not engage in armed group or militia activities,” Secretary-General Annan said in the name of the quartet, which also includes America, Russia, and the European Union. “There is a fundamental contradiction between such activities and the building of a democratic state.”
Two diplomats who participated in yesterday’s meeting said that the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, opposed Mr. Annan’s statement. European participants were convinced after Mr. Annan cited cases such as Northern Ireland, where armed groups were barred from the electoral process. America supported Mr. Annan, but the official quartet statement did not include the line.
“You cannot have kind of an armed option within the democratic process,” Ms. Rice said, “but we understand that the Palestinian political system is in transition.” Asked by The New York Sun whether Hamas should participate in elections, Ms. Rice said, “This is going to be a Palestinian process, and I think we have to give the Palestinians some room for the evolution of their political process.”
For the first time, Hamas plans to participate in a January 25 legislative election, running on its record of terror attacks against Israel. Prime Minister Sharon raised a storm last week when he told Israeli reporters that Israel “strongly opposes” Hamas’s participation.
Yesterday, Israel’s foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told the General Assembly that like Al Qaeda, “Hamas seeks to destroy everything that the international community and the moderates in our region seek to build: tolerance, democracy, peace.” He vowed Israel will “not cooperate” with the participation of Hamas in the election, “and we call on the international community to make clear its own opposition to the inclusion of such terrorists in the democratic process.”