Hamas' apparent win in Palestinian elections poses dilemma for U.S.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Islamic militant group Hamas and ruling Fatah Party said that Hamas, labeled a terrorist organization by the United States, had won a majority of seats in the Palestinian elections, which poses a diplomatic dilemma for the Bush administration and complicates Mideast peace efforts.

The Palestinian Cabinet submitted their resignations today, Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia's office said, setting the stage for the Islamic group to lead a new Palestinian government.

Palestinian election officials delayed the release of preliminary results until later in the day, but said on condition of anonymity that Hamas had won virtually all of the 66 seats up for grabs in electoral districts in the West Bank and Gaza. Half the seats in Wednesday's parliament vote were chosen on a national list and the other half by districts.

Hamas' top candidate, Ismail Haniyeh, said the group had won about 70 total seats, based on reporting by Hamas activists who observed the counting in the polling stations. Later in the day, another Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the number had risen to at least 75.

That would be enough to form a majority in the 132-seat parliament, which would allow Hamas to form the next Palestinian government and could jeopardize the Mideast peace process.

Officials with Fatah also said that Hamas had won about 70 total seats. They also spoke on condition of anonymity because counting in some districts was continuing.

Hamas, which is dedicated to the destruction of Israel, appears to have ridden a wave of popular disgust at the perceived corruption and incompetence of the Fatah party's leadership of the Palestinian government.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flooded polling stations throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Wednesday. Long lines formed at polling stations, and 77.7 percent of 1.3 million eligible voters cast ballots.

Palestinians were given the day off to vote, and the vote was held in a celebratory atmosphere rare in the recent years. Some activists covered their cars with red carnations and others blasted campaign songs from car stereos and storefront speakers.

Some children ran through the streets wearing the green flag of Hamas as a cape. Others wore the black-and-white checkered scarf of Fatah.

"Whoever is the winner, it's a great victory for the Palestinians, in general because partnership starts from this minute," said Samer Lulu, 29, who voted in Gaza City.

The Hamas victory, if confirmed, would give the group a strong claim to a formal place in the governmental structure for the first time since the Palestinian Authority was formed in 1994.

Hamas would form the next Palestinian government and could jeopardize the Mideast peace process.

The results also suggested the risks inherent in the Bush administration's campaign to bring democracy to the Middle East. Administration spokesmen officially celebrated the "historic moment" for the Palestinians while officials privately reeled at the outcome.

Bush administration officials had hoped Hamas, which has boycotted earlier parliamentary elections but has done well in municipal elections, would get as little as 20 percent of the vote.

The Washington Post reported Sunday that the United States had spent $2 million in recent weeks to promote the Palestinian Authority, and by extension Fatah, in a campaign that kept U.S. involvement hidden.

U.S. officials, from President Bush on down, repeated that the United States would not deal with Hamas as long as it does not renounce violence.

"A political party, in order to be viable, is one that professes peace, in my judgment, in order that it will keep the peace," Bush said in an interview Wednesday with The Wall Street Journal. "And so you're getting a sense of how I'm going to deal with Hamas if they end up in positions of responsibility. And the answer is: Not until you renounce your desire to destroy Israel will we deal with you."

Bush's statement left open the possibility that the United States would not reject a Palestinian government that includes Hamas, but instead that the United States would not work directly with Cabinet ministers who have Hamas connections.

There is a precedent for this approach: The Bush administration works with the Lebanese government, even though one Cabinet member is a member of Hezbollah, also labeled a terrorist group.

Former President Carter, heading a 900-member observer mission to the elections, said Wednesday, "The U.S. government is prepared to continue to deal with the Palestinian Authority with Hamas members in the government. But if Hamas members become part of the executive branch, U.S. law would preclude dealing with them." Hamas has indicated it would like to obtain Cabinet posts dealing with social services, such as health, education and welfare, raising questions about whether some of the hundreds of millions of dollars in annual U.S. aid could continue to flow to certain projects if they are overseen by a Hamas Cabinet member.

A congressional resolution passed last month warned that U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority could be jeopardized if Hamas joined the government before renouncing violence. European Union officials made a similar threat.

Hamas had said it would leave Cabinet positions dealing with diplomacy, including contacts with Israel, to others.

The election was the first national vote in which Hamas participated, presenting voters a competitive choice between the two major forces in Palestinian politics, a choice they did not have in a presidential election last year won by Mahmoud Abbas, who took over leadership of Fatah after the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004.

Ehud Olmert, who became Israel's acting prime minister when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had a brain hemorrhage earlier this month, called on Abbas, known popularly as Abu Mazen, to keep Hamas out of the government and disarm its members.

"I will not negotiate with a government that does not meet its most basic obligations — to fight terrorism," Olmert said in an e-mailed statement.

The European Commission said today it would work with any Palestinian government that used peaceful means.

"What is important is that we state we are happy to work with any government if that government is prepared to work by peaceful means," European External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told a European Parliament committee.

Compiled from The Washington Post, Reuters, The Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Baltimore Sun and Chicago Tribune