Yassin letter urged Arabs to resist US and Israel

Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin appealed to Arab leaders to do all they could to help oppose Israel and US forces occupying Iraq in a letter written soon before he was killed by an Israeli missile. Yassin’s message, was addressed to the upcoming Arab League summit in Tunis. Hamas officials said it would still be sent.

‘‘Palestine is an Arab and a Muslim land that was occupied by force of arms by the Zionist Jews and it will not be returned except through force of arms,’’ Yassin wrote. ‘‘We urge you to stop all sorts of normalisation with this enemy, to close down its embassies, its consulates, its commercial offices.’’

Yassin also urged Arab countries to give whatever help they could to Iraqis ‘‘until they are liberated from the American occupation. Helping Iraq and its people is a help to the Palestinian cause and to the Palestinian people,’’ he said.

Signing off his letter, Yassin wrote ‘‘That was my advice to you and I pray to God to unite your ranks for the good of the (Arab) nation.’’ — (Reuters)