By Eyad Khalifah
Albawaba.com - Amman
The Palestinian Hamas movement has denied as “biased” press reports that the Islamist group has links with the Spanish Armed Basque separatist organization (ETA).
AFP on Monday quoted the right-wing Spanish daily El Mundo as claiming that the ETA had sold an unknown quantity of dynamite to Hamas last year.
“Hamas is an organization working on Palestinian soil and has no links with any other organization abroad,” said Hassan Youssef, Hamas leader in the West Bank.
“What we do is legitimate struggle against occupation,” he added in a statement to Albawaba.com, rejecting categorically any hint of links between his group and terrorist organizations.
According to El Mundo, the explosives, which came from a 1.8-ton (3,600-pound) consignment of dynamite stolen from a French factory in September 1999, were sold to Hamas in December.
The paper said the dynamite, which was handed over to Hamas in northern Italy, had lost some of its destructive power as it was almost two years old.
El Mundo said a delegation from Hamas had visited the Spanish Basque country in late 2000 at the invitation of the ETA's political wing, Euskal Herritarrok.
Meanwhile, Youssef reiterated his movement’s stand rejecting security coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. He said that the position was shared by all Palestinian factions, including the mainstream Fateh movement.
The leader added that his group would exercise its right to fight Israel “as long as occupation exists.” – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
