Lankan Ranger
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USA warned Norway over its relationship with Hamas
While strongly backing a faltering Norwegian peace initiative in Sri Lanka, the US has been seriously concerned about the Norwegian peace efforts in the Middle East, particularly its relationship with Hamas.
According to a leaked diplomatic cable, originating from US embassy in Oslo in March, 2006, the US has warned Norway against a honeymoon with Hamas, one of the groups categorised by the US and EU as a terrorist organisation.
Responding to a query by The Island, External Affairs Ministry sources said the bottom line was that the US had felt the Norwegians couldnt be given a free hand in the Middle East in spite of its role in Sri Lanka.
A US cable, dated March 9, 2006, sent by the then US Ambassador in Oslo, Benson Whitney, reveals that the US raised the Hamas issue with Middle East Section head, Joern Gjelstad, of the Norwegian Ministry of External Affairs.
Whitney quoted Gjelstad as saying that Norway had not had regular political level contacts with Hamas, though at the local government level, the Norwegian mission in Ramallah had met Hamas officials regarding Norwegian development assistance programmes implemented for the benefit of local Palestinian communities. Those meetings had not been characterised by political discussions and they were only focused on the distribution of Norwegian aid and the progress of funded aid projects, Gjelstad said. According to him, such contacts would continue.
Whitney, who had been critical about Norways position on terrorism, said that a Norwegian decision to follow UN terrorist designation instead of the EUs meant Norway no longer officially considered Hamas a terrorist organisation.
Gjelstad, according to Whitney, assured that the move was to allow Norway to better facilitate peace efforts in Sri Lanka (the LTTE is listed as a terrorist organisation by the EU, but not the by the UN), not with a view to establishing a future relationship with Hamas.
Gjelstad asserted that there was no domestic legal reason for Norway not to meet Hamas. Whitney said that he had received an assurance from the Norwegian official that Oslo wouldnt initiate any political overture to Hamas without prior consultation with the US and other Western donors.
Sri Lankan government sources pointed out that leaked US diplomatic cables had given Sri Lanka an opportunity to study how the Norwegian peace facilitator and Co-Chairs had conducted the peace process. Sources said that the US had raised the Hamas issue in March, 2006, as the Norwegians were struggling to bring back the LTTE to the negotiating table in the wake of the Nov. 2005 presidential election.
In spite of Norwegian denial of its Hamas link, the US has been worried about the relationship as revealed in another diplomatic cable originating from Oslo in Feb. 2009. In that missive, the then US Ambassador, Whitney, criticised the then Norwegian Foreign Minister, Jonas Gahr Stoere, for ceaseless attacks on the use of force, promotion of dialogue at all costs, disarmament, and independent peace-brokering. Whitney said that Stoeres support for some Hamas positions underscored the need for caution in dealing with him on the Middle East.
The Island
While strongly backing a faltering Norwegian peace initiative in Sri Lanka, the US has been seriously concerned about the Norwegian peace efforts in the Middle East, particularly its relationship with Hamas.
According to a leaked diplomatic cable, originating from US embassy in Oslo in March, 2006, the US has warned Norway against a honeymoon with Hamas, one of the groups categorised by the US and EU as a terrorist organisation.
Responding to a query by The Island, External Affairs Ministry sources said the bottom line was that the US had felt the Norwegians couldnt be given a free hand in the Middle East in spite of its role in Sri Lanka.
A US cable, dated March 9, 2006, sent by the then US Ambassador in Oslo, Benson Whitney, reveals that the US raised the Hamas issue with Middle East Section head, Joern Gjelstad, of the Norwegian Ministry of External Affairs.
Whitney quoted Gjelstad as saying that Norway had not had regular political level contacts with Hamas, though at the local government level, the Norwegian mission in Ramallah had met Hamas officials regarding Norwegian development assistance programmes implemented for the benefit of local Palestinian communities. Those meetings had not been characterised by political discussions and they were only focused on the distribution of Norwegian aid and the progress of funded aid projects, Gjelstad said. According to him, such contacts would continue.
Whitney, who had been critical about Norways position on terrorism, said that a Norwegian decision to follow UN terrorist designation instead of the EUs meant Norway no longer officially considered Hamas a terrorist organisation.
Gjelstad, according to Whitney, assured that the move was to allow Norway to better facilitate peace efforts in Sri Lanka (the LTTE is listed as a terrorist organisation by the EU, but not the by the UN), not with a view to establishing a future relationship with Hamas.
Gjelstad asserted that there was no domestic legal reason for Norway not to meet Hamas. Whitney said that he had received an assurance from the Norwegian official that Oslo wouldnt initiate any political overture to Hamas without prior consultation with the US and other Western donors.
Sri Lankan government sources pointed out that leaked US diplomatic cables had given Sri Lanka an opportunity to study how the Norwegian peace facilitator and Co-Chairs had conducted the peace process. Sources said that the US had raised the Hamas issue in March, 2006, as the Norwegians were struggling to bring back the LTTE to the negotiating table in the wake of the Nov. 2005 presidential election.
In spite of Norwegian denial of its Hamas link, the US has been worried about the relationship as revealed in another diplomatic cable originating from Oslo in Feb. 2009. In that missive, the then US Ambassador, Whitney, criticised the then Norwegian Foreign Minister, Jonas Gahr Stoere, for ceaseless attacks on the use of force, promotion of dialogue at all costs, disarmament, and independent peace-brokering. Whitney said that Stoeres support for some Hamas positions underscored the need for caution in dealing with him on the Middle East.
The Island
