Britain wishes to have "normal relations" with Hamas and is looking for means of unfreezing millions of dollars worth of aid to Palestinians, Jack Straw said Wednesday. According to the Thursday's edition of The Telegraph, the British Foreign Secretary appeared to be moving away from the US policy of isolating the new Hamas-led Palestinian cabinet.
Straw also appeared to adopt a reasonable attitude towards the Islamic movement compared to PM Tony Blair, who stated Wednesay: "I hope very much that Hamas realize that those who kill innocent people in this way, by this type of attack that happened in Tel Aviv, are wicked and irresponsible, but more than that, that they do absolutely nothing to further the process of peace in the Middle East or the two-state solution that we all want to see."
Straw, speaking in Riyadh, said Hamas had to meet three international demands - renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept previous peace agreements signed by the Palestinian Authority. "Hamas now leads the government and we would like to have normal relations with them as we have had with previous governments," he said. "This requires movement by them as well as by us."
