US says Israel has right to self defence

1.00pm

WASHINGTON - The United States said on Monday it had no advance word before Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin but said the Jewish state had the right to defend itself against the "terrorist" group.

The killing of Yassin, which prompted threats of reprisal from Hamas against Israel and the United States, was another potential setback to the stalled US "road map" initiative for Middle East peace already mired in tit-for-tat violence.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan appealed for calm in the region following the assassination and put the onus on the Palestinian Authority to "do everything it can to confront and dismantle terrorist organisations."

White House National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack said, "Israel has a right to defend itself."

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom briefed Vice President Dick Cheney hours after the military operation and told reporters Washington was not involved in the decision.

"We are doing everything we can to co-ordinate our future moves with the American administration, but it didn't include this action that was taken in Gaza," Shalom said at the White House. "Israel decided to take this decision by its own government."

US President George W Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, also insisted that Washington was given no prior warning of the attack.

Pressed on whether the United States had played a role in Yassin's death or whether Sharon had called Bush directly to tell him that Israeli forces planned the assassination, Rice replied: "He did not."

She urged calm and hoped steps could be taken toward an Israeli-Palestinian settlement.

"There is always a possibility of a better day in the Middle East and some of the things being talked about by the Israelis -- about disengagement from areas -- might provide new opportunities," told NBC's "Today" show.

"I would hope that nothing will be done to preclude those new opportunities from emerging," she added.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is expected to visit the United States next month -- either April 1 or April 14 -- for talks with Bush, Shalom said.

Next month, Bush is also set to met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to discuss the road map at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas.

In an interview with CNN, Shalom denied the assassination was an effort to appease hard-liners in the Cabinet who oppose Sharon's plan to withdraw Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. He said there was "no connection."

He also said Israel had no plans to assassinate Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, as had been suggested by some Palestinians. He said the focus was on the leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Shalom said the attack was justified to protect Israelis from Yassin, whom he called "the godfather of the suicide bombers."

He said the assassination could help deter other militant leaders by delivering the message that "they will pay for their crimes, they will pay for the instructions that they are giving to these suicide bombers."

Rice and McClellan expressed open solidarity with Israel in its fight against terrorism. "Let's remember that Hamas is a terrorist organisation and that Sheikh Yassin himself has been heavily involved in terrorism," Rice said.

Bush advisors say they see Sharon's plan to unilaterally remove settlements in Gaza as a potentially positive interim step while the road map initiative remains stalled.

- REUTERS