Sheikh Yassin and the Palestinian state

The founder of the Hamas movement, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, has asserted that his movement will take part in the Palestinian government only after the establishment of a free and independent Palestinian state with full sovereignty over its territory, where no occupation exists.

He described statements quoted about him on this respect on Tuesday as deformed. In an interview with the BBC on Wednesday Sheikh Yassin added, "We are now in the stage of liberating and building up, and we are not ready to join the system of the Palestinian Authority."

Replying to a question on a speech he gave on Tuesday at the Palestinian central council, which is considered a byproducts of the Oslo accords, which his movement opposes, Sheikh Yassin said the council existed before Oslo rather than being one of its outcomes and that the Hamas movement went to the Palestinian National Council as an observer and not as a participant.