Quartet calls on Hamas to disarm, recognize Israel

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Members of the so-called Quartet - the US, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia - issued a statement overnight Thursday saying: "The Quartet reiterates its view that there is a fundamental contradiction between armed group and militia activities and the building of a democratic state." "A two-state solution to the conflict requires all participants in the democratic process to renounce violence and terror, accept Israel's right to exist, and disarm," they statement continued. Rice also talked with Abbas and the Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. She will travel to Europe for further consultations Monday. "You cannot have one foot in politics and another in terror," Rice told the World Economic Conference in Davos, Switzerland, via a telephone hookup from the State Department. "Our position on Hamas has therefore not changed."