Hamas vows to 'defend rights of Islamic Iran'
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=259329&area=/breaking_news/br eaking_news__international_news/ Tehran, Iran 15 December 2005 01:06 The radical Palestinian group Hamas will step up attacks against Israel if the Jewish state takes military action against Iran, its political chief said in Tehran on Thursday. Khaled Meshaal also praised Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his "courage" in having dismissed the Holocaust as a myth and calling for Israel to be moved out of the Middle East to Europe or North America. "Just as Islamic Iran defends the rights of the Palestinians, we defend the rights of Islamic Iran. We are part of a united front against the enemies of Islam," Meshaal told reporters. "Each member of this front defends itself with its own means in its region. We carry the battle in Palestine. If Israel launches an attack against Iran, we will expand the battlefield," he told a news conference. "We are part of a united front, and if one member of this front is attacked, it is our duty to support them." Israel and the United States accuse Iran of using an atomic energy drive as a cover for weapons development, a charge the Islamic republic denies. Ahmadinejad has increased alarm in the West after calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map". On Wednesday, he drew fresh condemnation after denying the massacre of Jews during World War II took place. "We congratulate Iran for its position in the Islamic world and in particular the statements of the supreme leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] and President Ahmadinejad," said Meshaal, who is based in Damascus and has been in Iran since Tuesday. "What Iranian officials say may not please some people, but these are just courageous declarations," he asserted. "The Muslim people will defend Iran because it voices what they have in their hearts, in particular the Palestinian people." On Iran's nuclear programme, he said: "Even if Iran's programme is military, what is the problem? Why do other countries like Israel have the right to have a nuclear weapon?" -- Sapa-AFP [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Fair play? Video games influencing politics. Click and talk back! http://us.click.yahoo.com/g0CDCD/tzNLAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
