Carter says he hopes Hamas will act responsibly

Former US President Jimmy Carter said Thursday that he hoped that Hamas would act "responsibly" now that it appears to have been elected to power in Palestinian elections. Carter, who led an international observer team from the National Democratic Institute, said Wednesday's elections had been orderly and fair. "My hope is that as Hamas assumes a major role in the next government, whatever that might be, it will take a position on international standards of responsibility," Carter told a news conference in Jerusalem. The elections were "completely honest, completely fair, completely safe and without violence," Carter said. A day after the elections, there were no major allegations of fraud from either side.