Hamdan: Sarkozy’s demands out of context

[ 19/10/2011 - 07:37 PM ]

BEIRUT, (PIC)-- Osama Hamdan, in charge of foreign relations in Hamas movement, expressed surprise at French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s statement that the release of Gilad Shalit was not enough and that Hamas has to “shun violence and recognize Israel”.

Hamdan told the PIC on Wednesday that the statement was out of context as far as the prisoners’ exchange deal was concerned.

He said that the exchange deal was meant to release Palestinian prisoners, which happened when the deal was concluded, and the issue of “shunning violence” or recognizing Israel was not included in the deal nor in the negotiations leading to it.

The Hamas official called on the West to respect the people’s choice and to deal with it, adding that Israel was forced to deal with this choice when it accepted the exchange deal.

Hamdan said that the deal was not meant as an introduction to recognizing Israel and giving up resistance but on the contrary it proved that Hamas’s path of refusing to recognize Israel and its insistence on resistance was the right choice.

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