Hamas slams US aid threat

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyehon on Saturday rejected international calls for the Islamic militant group to disarm and renounce violence...

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyehon on Saturday rejected international calls for the Islamic militant group to disarm and renounce violence to prevent cuts to international aid for the Palestinian Authority. 8216;8216;This aid can not be a sword over the heads of the Palestinian people and will not be material to blackmail our people, to blackmail Hamas and the resistance. It is rejected,8217;8217; said Haniyeh.

He added that Hamas, sworn to Israel8217;s destruction, was committed to keeping its arms and resisting Israeli occupation. Haniyeh was speaking after the US threatened to cut back its 234 million in aid earmarked for the Palestinians this year because Hamas was expected to form a new Palestinian government.

8216;8216;They8217;ve got to get rid of that arm of their party which is armed and violence and secondly, they8217;ve got to get rid of that part of their platform that says they want to destroy Israel,8217;8217;said US President George W Bush.

EU officials have also indicated that a refusal by Hamas to renounce violence and recognise Israel could have consequences in its relations with a Hamas-run Palestinian Authority. The EU is the biggest donor to the Palestinian Authority, with aid of 612 million last year.

Haniyeh said the Palestinians would only disarm and end the armed struggle when Israel ended its occupation of land the Palestinians seek for an independent state.

Hamas seeks to replace Israel and the Palestinian Authority with an Islamic state. It has said it would support the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a first step.

Meanwhile, Fatah gunmen and Palestinian police, angry at Hamas8217;s election victory, took over parliament buildings in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Saturday and opened fire in the air, witnesses said. Some climbed on to the roof of the parliament in Ramallah, which was not in session at the time, demanding the resignation of senior members of President Mahmoud Abbas8217;s long-dominant Fatah movement.

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In the Gaza Strip, police briefly stormed into the parliament building8217;s compound, firing in the air, to protest against any transfer of security responsibility to Hamas, an Islamic militant group.

A faction of Fatah8217;s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said on Saturday it would not observe a truce with Israel after Fatah lost to the militant Islamic group Hamas in a Palestinian parliamentary election.