British lawmakers: Britian should talk to Hamas

Britain should begin talking directly with three of the Middle East's most prominent radical Islamic groups - Hamas, Hizbullah and the Muslim Brotherhood - a committee of lawmakers said in a report released Monday. British diplomats should speak with moderate elements from such groups and continue engaging Iran and Syria because their influence can no longer be discounted, Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee said. "The Muslim Brotherhood is strong in Egypt, and Hamas and Hizbullah cannot be ignored," the report said. The report criticized Britain's role in the international boycott of Hamas, saying it had contributed to the collapse of the unity government in the Palestinian territories amid the violence and political breakdown that engulfed the West Bank and Gaza in June.