* Copied (from: POLITICS) by Stephen Hayes using timEd/2 1.10.y2k.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77854,00.html

Hamas Is Ready to Take Rule From Arafat, Official Says


Friday, February 07, 2003

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip   Hamas, a militant group that espouses suicide attacks
and a strict Islamic rule, says it is ready to take over the Palestinian
leadership from Yasser Arafat.


The statements on Thursday by a senior Hamas official, Mahmoud Zahar, were a
rare public expression of the rising political ambitions of the group as Israel
itself works to weaken Arafat.

Zahar told The Associated Press that the group is "absolutely"
prepared to lead
the Palestinian people. He said Hamas has the infrastructure to take over
leadership "politically, financially (and) socially."

Zahar said Hamas would take over through elections, not by force. Palestinians
had elections scheduled for Jan. 20 but postponed them because Israeli troops
are in control of most of most West Bank cities.

Israel's government is working to weaken Arafat, saying that he encourages
militants to attack Israel. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ruled out contacts
with Arafat, insisting that other Palestinian leaders are prepared to make
peace. Sharon, with the backing of the United States, has demanded that Arafat
be replaced or sidelined.

Critics have warned that the plan could backfire because radical groups like
Hamas, not moderates, could take over if Arafat is neutralized.

Arafat has not visited Gaza in more than a year, confined to his headquarters
in Ramallah by the Israeli forces. He fears that if he leaves, he will not be
allowed to return.

Hamas has moved into the vacuum in Gaza, offering social services in the
crowded territory, poverty-stricken in the best of times and made even more
destitute by the effects of the conflict. The group's frequent attacks against
Israel have bolstered its support.

In an apparent move to reassert control, the head of Preventive Security in
Gaza, Arafat ally Rashid Abu Shbak, told Israel Radio on Thursday that he is
sending police into areas where militants, many from Hamas, have fired mortars
and rockets at Israeli settlements.

Shbak said the rocket fire is against the interest of the Palestinian people
because it draws punishing Israeli retaliation.

Reflecting Hamas policy, Zahar said the armed conflict with Israel would
continue, referring to suicide bombings and other attacks. Egypt has been
trying to obtain a declaration from rival Palestinian factions to stop attacks
on Israeli civilians, but Hamas has refused.

Hamas has been responsible for dozens of suicide bombing attacks against
Israelis during 28 months of fighting. As a matter of Islamic principle, Hamas
does not recognize the existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East, opposing
Arafat's policy of creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Ziad Abu Amr, a Palestinian legislator from Arafat's Fatah movement, said Hamas
leaders rarely mention their takeover goal in public, but it is clearly their
intention. "They want to mold things according to their vision,"
he said. "All
along they presented themselves as an alternative, but they want to do it
peacefully."

Hamas has avoided direct conflict with Arafat's regime up to now, though from
time to time, clashes between the rival groups have erupted.

Israel sent its troops into West Bank cities and towns in mid-June after a
series of Palestinian suicide bombing attacks in Israel, weakening Arafat's
security forces at the same time as Israel charged that Arafat was not acting
to stop attacks against Israelis.

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