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Posted on 09/19/2001 1:50:39 PM PDT by veronica

Hamas says U.S. "crusade" will fail

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - The militant Muslim movement Hamas has vowed to fight on despite an Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire and says a U.S.-led alliance against terrorism is a fight against Islam that will fail.

"They (the United States) want to open a battle against Islam. They should know that religious battles are long and wild. In the end they will be defeated," Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin told Reuters in an interview in the Gaza Strip.

"They have to look back at the experience of the crusades. Eventually they were defeated."

U.S. President George W. Bush is trying to build a global anti-terror alliance following the strikes against New York and Washington last week.

He has told Americans to prepare for a long "crusade", a term that has been condemned in the Arab world, where it is interpreted to mean a Christian holy war against Muslims.

Israel and the Palestinians issued new ceasefire orders on Tuesday after fierce international pressure to disengage prompted by concern that Israeli-Palestinian violence would discourage Arab and Islamic states from backing the coalition.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two groups responsible for a wave of suicide bombings inside Israel, quickly distanced themselves from the ceasefire calls.

Reiterating long-held positions, they vowed to fight as long as Israel occupies Palestinian land. Militants particularly want Israel to dismantle Jewish settlements built on that land.

"Enough of deception and tricks -- occupation exists on the (Palestinian) land and as long as occupation exists there will be no talk of a ceasefire," Yassin said.

"I reiterate for the whole world that any agreement that does not serve the peace and security of the Palestinian people will remain fragile."

Yassin made clear he meant a continuation of attacks inside Israel. Such attacks have killed scores of Israelis in recent years, and the number of suicide bombings has increased during the year-old Palestinian uprising against occupation.

"What would commit me to a ceasefire is the end of the occupation and, as long as there is no end to it, resistance against the occupation will continue," he said, adding that the options included "all kinds of resistance".

Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the 1967 Middle East war. Militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad oppose Palestinian-Israeli peace accords.

The international community has condemned both Israel's occupation and the Palestinian suicide bombings.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat told Palestinians on Tuesday to enforce a ceasefire order and not to respond when attacked. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the army to stop attacks and leave areas under Palestinian control.

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