Brussels, 02/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - Breaking with the political line decided upon by EU foreign ministers of refusing to deal with members of the Palestinian government who belong to Hamas (see EUROPE 9412), a group of MEPs met with the Palestinian prime minister Ismaïl Haniyeh (Hamas) in Gaza on Tuesday 1 May. The MEPs are part of an EP delegation for relations with the Palestinian Legislative Council which is currently visiting the region (see EUROPE 9417). They called for a lifting of the freeing of direct aid for the Palestinian government. This was the first meeting of a delegation of the European Parliament and the Hamas prime minister since Hamas, the Movement for Islamic Resistance, came to power last year. Our visit here is highly symbolic, explained Cyprus GUE/NGL MEP Kyriacos Triantaphyllides, who heads the delegation, adding that the EU needs to deal with the Palestinian government and the delegation believed it was an opportunity on the road to peace. AP reports that UK MEP Caroline Lucas (Greens/EFA) explained that the European Commission and member states had applied pressure to stop the EP delegation meeting the Palestinian prime minister. Israel immediately criticised the move by the MEPs. AP quotes an Israeli government spokesperson as saying that the Hamas leadership is obstinately refusing to respect the international community's demands and meeting an unreformed, extremist Hamas only gives legitimacy and recognition to a group which supports terrorism and opposes peace.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner would only comment that the European Parliament delegation 'has not been an official representative of the foreign policy of the EU'. (hb)