Hamas chief calls for halting cooperation with Israel

The founder of the Palestinian national resistance movement, Hamas, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin has demanded halting security cooperation and coordination between the Palestinian government and Israel which aims at undermining Hamas and the ambitions of the Palestinian people to win independence and freedom.

Orient radio said Yassin's statements were made following Israel's allegations that security cooperation between the Palestinian government and Israel led to the arrest of two Hamas members one week ago in the West Bank.

Yassin said the Oslo Agreements moved the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) from the trenches of defense against the Israeli occupation before the PLO attained the promises which were thwarted by the Israeli enemy. He said security cooperation between the Palestinian government and Israel jeopardizes the rights of the Palestinian people, notably their legitimate right to resist the Israeli occupation.

Sheikh Yassin appealed to the Palestinian government to rectify its work and to go back to the trenches of the resistance after negotiations have reached an impasse, including last week's meetings in Washington.

He also called on the Arab and Islamic worlds to gather their forces and capabilities to liberate Palestine and Al Masjed Al Aqsa ( Mosque).