Mahmoud Azzahar, s senior Islamic Hamas representative, announced on Tuesday that his movement will not stop or end its armed attacks against Israel until holding the presidential elections.  

Azzahar told reporters following a meeting with PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas, or Abu Mazen in Gaza that "First the aggressor (Israel) must stop its aggression on our people, and then the movement would study its next step."

Palestinian sources had revealed that Abu Mazen had asked representatives of Hamas and Islamic Jihad (Holy War) movement to stop armed attacks within the coming 60 days until presidential elections due to be held on Jan. 9.

Azzahar said that Hamas rejects any ceasefire "as long as Israel continues escalating its armed actions ad military operations against our people, adding "if all types of aggression stop, then there would be talks."

On Tuesday, Abbas met with Mahmoud Azzahar and another Hamas representatives Isma'eel Haneya and discussed with them the principle of a political partnership, forming a unified national leadership and controlling the internal security situation. "We had presented to Mr. Abu Mazen many questions about the political partnership and about the situation in general and we are waiting for answers from him," said Haneya.

He added that they also touched on issues about Hamas' role in the future and whether it would participate in the elections. "As soon as the political leadership of Hamas makes its final decision, we would definitely give our final answer to whether to participate in elections or not," said Haneya.

Palestinian sources closed to Hamas said on condition of anonymity that Hamas has been looking for a new Palestinian leader to lead the Palestinian people "and we didn't find someone better than Abu Mazen."

(Xinhua News Agency November 17, 2004)