A senior leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said
on Wednesday that the group would reveal its nominee for parliament
speaker at the inauguration session of the newly-elected
legislature slated for Saturday.
Atef Odwan, a Gaza-based senior Hamas leader who is also a
lawmaker, said that the group would "wait until Saturday to reveal
who has be chosen (as parliament speaker)."
"Saturday is going to be a decisive day," he added, while
refusing to confirm earlier reports which said that Azeez Dweik, a
Hamas leader from the West Bank city of Ramallah was elected as the
new speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council. The reports
also tipped Mahmoud al-Zahar as head of Hamas in the council.
"We don't want to create any kind of confusion over nominations
on the legislative council secretariat," he said. "The reports
could be true and could be untrue."
Hamas, which calls for Israel's destruction, has won the Jan. 25
legislative elections by a landslide and held 74 seats in the
132-member parliament.
The long dominant Fatah movement, which is now led by
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has suffered a crushing defeat
in the polls and only managed to garner 45 seats. The newly-elected
parliament is scheduled to hold its first session on Saturday,
during which the speaker, two deputies and a secretary are expected
to be elected.
With a majority of parliament seats, Hamas will easily push
through its nominees in the parliament.
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Also on Wednesday, a senior Hamas leader rejected earlier Israeli
reports saying that Hamas is seeking a secret channel of dialogue
with both Israel and the United States.
Khalil Abu Leila, newly elected Hamas member in the Palestinian
Legislative Council (PLC), made the clarification to reporters
after the Israeli daily of Yediot Ahronot Wednesday quoted
high-ranking Israeli official sources as saying that Hamas
leadership in Gaza has tried recently opening a channel of dialogue
with Israel and the United States.
"These reports are totally untrue, and it is parts of the rumors
that the Zionists are trying to publish in the media from time to
time," Abu Leila told the reporters.
He said that "the main aim of publishing such rumors in the
Zionist newspapers is to destroy the good reputation of the
movement which still firmly keeps its stances and positions
concerning the recognition of the state of Israel."
Meanwhile, the Hamas leader also rejected Israeli reports on
disarming al-Qassam Brigades, armed wing of Hamas, saying Israelis
producing lies against Hamas.
The Israeli official sources earlier affirmed to the Israeli
daily that Israel had received a secret letter from Hamas asking to
open a new channel of contacts, which was rejected by Israel unless
Hamas recognizes the state of Israel.
(Xinhua News Agency February 16, 2006)
