Hamas expecting no conditions on talks in Moscow
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-12 15:58

On Sunday, Livni urged the international community to stand firm against Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings.

"The Russian position is currently not accepted in the international community," Livni told Israel Radio. "Part of the danger is going down the slippery slope of first talking, then starting to understand why, then supporting with money, then granting legitimacy. This is a phenomenon that needs to be acted against."

With Hamas issuing mixed messages about the future of its military activities, Livni cautioned the world against accepting vague Hamas statements. "There is no negotiation here with Hamas about what it will and will not agree to," she said. "The conditions here are very clear, the situation is black and white."

Hamas, while adhering to its violent ideology, has voiced willingness to agree to a long-term truce if Israel would reciprocate. Hamas has largely honored a year-old cease-fire.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has invited his Israeli counterpart, Shaul Mofaz, to visit Russia to make Israel's views known, but Mofaz hasn't decided whether to accept the invitation, the Israeli Defense Ministry said Sunday. The two men met on Saturday on the sidelines of a NATO meeting.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is due to arrive in Israel on Sunday for talks on relations between Israel and the Palesitnians after Hamas' election victory, and to discuss Iran's nuclear program.

In other news Sunday, Israel reopened the vital Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel, the military said. The crossing, used by Palestinian workers to reach jobs in Israel that support thousands of families, was closed after armed Palestinians attacked it on Thursday.

On Saturday, meanwhile, a shadowy Palestinian militant group released an Egyptian diplomat kidnapped earlier in the week at gunpoint. Officials said Hussam Almousaly, Egypt's military attache to the Palestinian Authority, was unharmed.

The abduction, carried out in broad daylight, underscored the lawlessness plaguing Gaza in the wake of Israel's withdrawal last September. Egypt, a key ally of the Palestinians, has been trying to broker the formation of a new Palestinian government following the Hamas election victory.

All major Palestinian militant groups, including those who have carried out previous kidnappings, condemned the abduction.

"Despite the happy ending of the release of the Egyptian diplomat, there are people who are asking what are the reasons behind such incidents," Suleiman Awad, a spokesman for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, said Saturday. "Although Abu Mazen (Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas) is doing his best to contain this disorder, it is time that all Palestinian factions cooperate with the Palestinian Authority and its president."