Norway Will Roll Out the Bloody Red Carpet for Hamas
Charles Johnson
Thu May 11, 2006 at 1:37 pm PDT • Views: 360
The next gutless European state to welcome Hamas “refugee minister” Atef Edwane will be Norway.
STOCKHOLM (AFP) - A senior Hamas official, Atef Edwane, is expected in Oslo in the next few days on a controversial visit during which he might meet Norwegian foreign ministry officials, Palestinian and Norwegian officials said.
Edwane, minister for refugee affairs in the Hamas-led Palestinian administration, was expected in the Norwegian capital some time between Thursday and Tuesday next when his European visa expires, said officials of the Palestinian Authority in Stockholm, where the minister was staying.
The planned visit sparked protests from the United States, which is pressing for isolation of Hamas until the group recognizes Israel and renounces violence. Hamas is on the European Union and US lists of terrorist organisations. Norway, broker of the now defunct Oslo peace accords, uses the United Nations’ list of terror organisations, a list which does not include Hamas.
The Norwegian Palestine Committee said Edwane was expected in Oslo late Friday. “We have noted from the media the intention of the Palestinian minister for refugee affairs to come to Norway,” said Anne Lene Dale Sandsten, the Norwegian foreign ministry spokesperson. “We have received no request for a meeting, but if such a request were made, the foreign ministry would respond favourably to a meeting at the level of officials,” she told AFP.
Frank says: