Palestinians are hoping that a United Nations vote in September paves the way to statehood for them under the newly unified Fatah-Hamas leadership.
But the two groups split Monday on reactions to the U.S. assault in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden. Palestinian Authority spokesman Ghassan Khatib called bin Laden's death "good for the cause of peace worldwide" and criticized "the violent methods -- that were created and encouraged by bin Laden and others in the world."
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, on the other hand, had blame only for America. "We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior," Haniyeh told reporters. "We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood."
"We ask God to offer him mercy with the true believers and the martyrs," Haniyeh added.
The statement evokes memories of gleeful reactions among many Palestinians who celebrated the 9/11 attacks.
Other websites, including the Muslim Brotherhood and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, referred to bin Laden's "martyrdom."
Hamas and the Fatah are scheduled to sign their new unity agreement this week in Cairo.
Officials with the Muslim Brotherhood, which hopes to rise to power in a successive Egyptian government, said bin Laden's death removes the need for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"It is time for Obama to pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq and end the occupation of U.S. and Western forces around the world that have for so long harmed Muslim countries," Essam al-Erian, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's governing body, told Reuters.
Read more at: http://www.investigativeproject.org/2812/hamas-condemns-bin-laden-killing
