Special report: Hamas forming Palestinian govt

    GAZA, March 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Hamas won't recognize Israel or the agreements signed between the two sides, a Hamas spokesman said on Wednesday.

    Salah el-Bardaweel, Hamas spokesman in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), made the remarks to Xinhua over the telephone, which contradicted statements by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who said earlier that Hamas was willing to recognize the road map peace plan.

    The road map peace plan envisages an independent Palestinian state living side by side with a secure Israel.

    El-Bardaweel said the Hamas delegation which visited Moscow, Russia, early this week, had informed the Russians that Hamas won't recognize Israel.

    "Hamas can't recognize a state that occupies our lands and keeps turning it into cantons and plans to confiscate it," el-Bardaweel said.

    Hamas won't be obliged or committed to any of the signed agreements with Israel, he added.

    "We managed to convince the Russians on two major issues. The first is that it is our right to resist the military occupation of our lands, and the second is that the Russians as well as the world have to respect our people's democratic choice," the spokesman said.

    The visit of the Hamas delegation to Russia and other Arab countries was aimed at breaking the siege imposed on the movement by Israel and the United States.

    After Hamas won 74 seats in the new 132-member Palestinian parliament in the Jan. 25 elections, Israel and the United States vowed harsh measures against the movement if the group doesn't recognize Israel or the signed agreements.

    Hamas was involved in some suicide attacks against Israel during the second Palestinian uprising since September 2000, but largely abided by a truce with Israel in 2005.

    The United States, the European Union and Israel list Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, as a terrorist organization. Enditem