White House refuses to deal with Hamas

WASHINGTON - The United States reiterated its refusal to deal with Hamas despite the militant group's participation in the Palestinian election, in which an early projection said it would win 30 per cent of the vote.

"Our views on Hamas are very clear," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. "We do not deal with Hamas. Hamas is a terrorist organisation. Under current circumstances I don't see any change in that," he said.

He declined to say whether Washington would cut off aid to the Palestinians if Hamas was part of a new government. "We'll see what the election results are. I'm not going to play a what-if scenario," he said.

"There is a contradiction here when it comes to a political entity that is also operating outside of the political process and engaging in violence and has called for the destruction of a neighboring country," he said, adding that that contradiction would have to be solved.

The dominant Fatah movement has projected that it won 46 per cent of the vote compared to more than 30 per cent for Hamas, an Islamic group which calls in its charter for the destruction of Israel.

Fatah said it doubted the accuracy of the projection and wanted to await the official count.

- REUTERS