US doesn't condemn Hamas assassination

4.00pm

WASHINGTON - The United States has refrained from condemning the killing of a top Hamas leader and has instead limited its criticism of the assassination to saying it feared for the stability of the Middle East.

Hamas leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi died this morning (NZ time) after an Israeli helicopter fired two missiles at his car in the Gaza Strip. Enraged Palestinians said President George W. Bush shared the blame for his death.

While asking all parties to show restraint, the White House urged Israel to think through the consequences of its actions.

"The United States is gravely concerned for regional peace and stability," the White House said in a statement.

Bush stood with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon three days ago and welcomed the Israeli leader's plan to withdraw Jewish settlements from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, saying that could help get the peace "road map" back on track.

But in a historic shift that has outraged the Arab world, Bush tacitly endorsed Israel's wish to keep some settlements on the West Bank. That broke with Washington's long-held view that the settlements were an obstacle to peace.

In today's statement, the White House said, "Israel has the right to defend itself from terrorist attacks" -- words that may fuel Palestinian anger.

In avoiding a condemnation of the Israeli strike, the statement reflected a formula Washington routinely uses when Israel targets a Palestinian militant.

Issued under the name of Bush's press secretary, Scott McClellan, the statement labelled Hamas a "terrorist" group responsible for an attack in the northern Gaza strip hours before the Rantissi killing.

A suicide bomber blew himself up at the Erez border crossing in northern Gaza, killing an Israeli soldier.

VOWS OF REVENGE

The US response to the assassination was in stark contrast to condemnations from around the world,

The European Union condemned the killing as unlawful and "not conducive to lowering tension."

A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the assassination violated international law and could lead to more violence in the Middle East.

In Gaza, Palestinians poured into the streets to view the wreckage of Rantissi's car and vowed revenge on Israel.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie accused the United States of giving a green light to the assassination.

He said Bush showed a clear bias by saying mid-week that Israel could expect to keep some of the land it captured during the 1967 Middle East war and by appearing to negate any right of return for Palestinian refugees to Israel.

Sharon pitched the Gaza "disengagement" plan as an attempt to break the deadlock after three and a half years blighted by Palestinian suicide bombers and Israeli military crackdowns.

Israeli and US officials have expressed fears Hamas could play a bigger role in Gaza, a power base for the Islamic fundamentalist group, once it is under Palestinian rule.

The outrage in the Arab world at US policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is helping fuel support across the region for an insurgency against American occupation in Iraq.

"There are many who just have the assumption we are pro-Israeli, no matter what we say or do," a State Department official said. US officials said the United States had not changed its policy of opposing Israeli assassinations.

"The Israelis do not consult with the United States when they take their military actions," a State Department spokeswoman said.

- REUTERS