US denies contacts with Hamas
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-12-15 09:23

The United States denied it had held contacts with Hamas as a leader of the radical Palestinian group has claimed.

"We don't conduct business with designated terrorist organisations. Hamas is a designated terrorist organisation," US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.

"We are not aware of anything at all that would substantiate such a reference," he said in reference to an interview given by Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal to the BBC.

In the interview, Meshaal suggested that Hamas was gaining international legitimacy and that it was communication with the European Union and the United States behind the scenes. "The American administration, which also put us on terror lists and criticizes us, contacted us in the past months," the Palestinian official said.

Hamas is leading an armed struggle against Israel and has called for a boycott of the Palestinian election on January 9. Other radical Palestinian groups such as Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad are also on the US terrorist list.

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