Hamas, from sidelines, speaks in different voices

By Nidal al-Mughrabi - Analysis

GAZA (Reuters) - As Arab ministers fly in to Washington for this week's Annapolis conference on making peace between Israel and the Palestinians, the most notable absentee is Hamas, winner of last year's Palestinian general election.

Though excluded from the talks, the Islamists remain key to any progress, and policymakers are poring over nuances in -- and possible internal divisions over -- Hamas's stance on Israel, the West and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction.

Hamas's violent seizure of control in the Gaza Strip in June led Abbas to dismiss it from government and re-engage with Israel and its Western allies in a process that has led to the talks in Annapolis -- which even Hamas's Syrian ally may attend.

There are some signs that Hamas's isolation may be sparking internal debate, even if many analysts believe the voices of moderation are a minority compared to hardliners on both Hamas's fronts of conflict -- with Israel, and with Fatah.

Ahmed Youssef, long-time adviser to Ismail Haniyeh, who was dismissed as Palestinian prime minister in June, and former spokesman Ghazi Hamad have lately advocated negotiating with Israel and better relations with the United States.

Youssef also suggested Hamas should study any invitation to attend the Annapolis meeting.

Unsurprisingly, no such offer has been made and Hamas leaders, like their Iranian allies, have condemned the conference and Arab states' decision to join in.

Analysts say these differences in part reflect geography -- Hamas figures in the West Bank, exposed to Fatah reprisals, have been more conciliatory than more conservative Gazans. And some nuances may be a deliberate tactic to sound out reactions.

FAULTLINE

But Mouin Rabbani of the International Crisis Group think tank sees a real "faultline" between those whose priority is consolidating control in Gaza and others who do not want that to obstruct a renewal of power-sharing with Fatah.

Senior members of the Hamas hierarchy strongly deny any division and have insisted that Youssef and Hamad speak only for themselves. Youssef insists he is still an adviser to Haniyeh.

Hamad said in a leaked letter to his leaders that the Gaza takeover was a "grave strategic mistake". He has also made efforts, so far rebuffed, to contact Israeli officials.

"It is a healthy thing for a movement to have different views within itself, but, in the end, we are all governed by the decision taken by the institution," Youssef told Reuters.

Acknowledging the commitment to destroy Israel in Hamas's 1988 founding charter, he said the West's refusal to talk to it for that reason did not take recent developments into account.

"Israel wants to persuade the world Hamas is a terrorist organization. We want to tell the world they have to look at current Hamas policies and not read a historical document."