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Hamas Foreign Minister Invited to China NewsMax.com Wires GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- The new Palestinian foreign minister from Hamas said Tuesday he has been invited to China next month for what would be his first trip to a non-Arab country since the Islamic militant group took office. Many countries have said they would shun the new Hamas government, sworn in last week, because the group refuses to recognize Israel and renounce violence. However, Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar has received invitations from several Arab countries, including Egypt, which he plans to visit next week. Zahar announced the trip to China after meeting with the Chinese representative to the Palestinians, Yang Wei Guo. Yang was the first foreign diplomat to meet with Zahar since the government was sworn in. Zahar said the trip to China would precede an international conference he is attending in east Asia at the end of May. Story Continues Below
"The Chinese told us that they are ready to receive a Palestinian delegation at any time," he said, adding that "we highly appreciate this visit, which we consider the first official visit by a foreign diplomat to the new Palestinian government." Yang did not refer to Zahar's planned visit to China. He said that China respects the "democratic" choice of the Palestinians, referring to Hamas' election victory two months ago. "We discussed the joint relations and the bilateral projects and we hope to continue and strengthen the cooperation and friendship in the future," he said. "China was and will continue to support the Palestinian people in their legitimate struggle to restore their national rights." Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Israel "would be concerned about giving legitimacy and recognition to an unreformed Hamas because we believe that that would hurt the chances of the new Palestinian government moderating its extreme positions." Zahar was part of the high-level diplomatic team that visited Russia in early March at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin. The trip was the first crack in an international front against the group, whose suicide bombers have killed hundreds of Israelis. It provoked anger in Israel and surprise among Russia's fellow members in the Quartet of Middle East mediators - the United States, the European Union and United Nations, which had agreed to withhold international recognition from Hamas until it moderated its stance. Hamas' victory in January parliamentary elections prompted threats from the United States and European Union to cut off $1 billion in aid to the Palestinians unless Hamas changes its policies toward Israel. Canada became the first government besides Israel to cut off financial assistance the day Hamas formally took power.
© 2006 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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