World should give Hamas a chance to moderate - Abbas

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday the world should give the militant Islamic group Hamas a chance to moderate as it prepares to form a government.

Mr Abbas said Hamas must change its policies. But he also appealed to the international community to keep up financial support for the Palestinians and respect the results of democratic elections on January 25 that brought Hamas to power. "(Hamas) is in power now and there are international commitments they are expected to deal with," Mr Abbas said at a news conference with visiting Slovenian President Janez Drnovsek in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"However, we must not push them to make a sudden transformation from the extreme right to the extreme left. We must wait and give them this chance (to transform)."

Hamas trounced Mr Abbas's Fatah movement in the elections partly on an anti-corruption platform. Mr Abbas has asked Hamas to form a government, which is expected to be installed within weeks.

Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, has rejected calls by Mr Abbas and the international community to recognise Israel and to respect previous Palestinian peace accords with the Jewish state.

Fatah believes in a negotiated settlement with Israel to end occupation.

Palestinian officials close to Mr Abbas said despite the wide gap between Mr Abbas's political views and those of Hamas, he would try to find a way to work with Hamas and delay what they called an inevitable confrontation.

According to Palestinian law, Mr Abbas can use his powers to overturn laws passed by a Hamas government.

But in an early challenge to Mr Abbas, Hamas curtailed his powers to appoint some judges earlier this week in one of the militant group's first acts in the new Parliament.

Western diplomats told Reuters the US and some European states were disappointed with Mr Abbas's leadership and had lost confidence in his ability to counter Hamas. They expressed scepticism at his view that Hamas would moderate over time.

Israeli political sources said it would be a waste of time to negotiate any peace deal with Mr Abbas himself if it would be rejected by a Hamas-dominated Parliament.

The Jewish state says it will not negotiate with Hamas, which has masterminded nearly 60 suicide bombings against Israelis since a Palestinian uprising began in 2000.

Mr Abbas has accused Israel of freezing peace talks and said its unilateral acts had undermined chances of any resumption. In a bid to isolate Hamas, Israel has severed all contacts with the Palestinians and frozen some $55 million in tax revenue transfers to the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinians depend on foreign aid totalling more than $1 billion a year.

International donors say they will stop direct payments to the Authority once a Hamas government takes over unless it recognises Israel, renounces violence and accepts existing agreements with the Jewish state. Mr Abbas appealed to foreign donors to refrain from "punishing the Palestinian people for their democratic choice".

Mr Drnovsek said aid must continue to stop the Authority from collapsing. He asked Hamas to recognise Israel and respect the demands of the international community "otherwise it will have no partners".