DEMARCHE DELIVERED: HAMAS COMMENTS ON TEL AVIV

C O N F I D E N T I A L OSLO 000492 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/19/2016 TAGS: PREL KPAL IS NO SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: HAMAS COMMENTS ON TEL AVIV ATTACK REF: STATE 61640 Classified By: DCM Christopher W. Webster for reasons 1.4 b and d. ¶1. (C) DCM delivered reftel demarche to Ministry of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Africa, Asia, and the Middle East Vergard Ellefsen on April 19. Ellefsen stated that Norway agreed with our condemnation of the attack and our condemnation of Hamas' comments defending it. He will forward our points to Foreign Minister Stoere, including our request not to have MFA official(s) meet with two Hamas parliamentarians who are coming to Oslo May 15 at the invitation of the non-governmental group, the Norwegian Palestine Committee. ¶2. (C) During the meeting, Ellefsen stated that the Foreign Ministry had not/not received a request for a meeting. However, if such a request did come it would be processed through his office for referral to the Foreign Minister for a decision. Ellefsen left the door open for a possible meeting by reiterating that Norway has met at the technical level with groups with which "it does not share views" in the past. If a meeting was granted, Ellefsen stated that Norwegians would bring forward views from the Quartet and would not "slip from the Quartet line." DCM stressed that any meetings with Hamas representatives should not be seen in the usual light given the recent Tel Aviv bombing and that granting an official meeting could be seen as legitimating unacceptable behavior, particularly since Hamas officials seem to be seeking meetings in other capitals on their trip to bolster international support. NOTE: Subsequent to our meeting at the MFA, the Middle East Section informed us that they had just received a formal request for a meeting from the Norwegian Palestine Committee. The MFA also told us that the two Hamas officials would seek meetings with France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Sweden, and possibly Denmark. END NOTE ¶3. (C) Prior to delivering the demarche, the DCM also spoke on the phone with FM Stoere's Chief of Staff, who said that the MFA had not made a decision on who the two Hamas officials would meet. He anticipated they would meet with a "working level" MFA Middle East Section officer since they are members of the Palestinian Legislative Assembly. He also said that the meeting would be consistent with Norway's policy of dealing with other terrorist groups (i.e. the Tamil Tigers and the Abu Sayaf Group in the Philippines) in the effort to promote peace. The DCM responded that such a meeting at this time would undercut Foreign Minister Stoere's assurances both publicly and to the Secretary that Norway would not assist Hamas. ¶4. (C) COMMENT. Whether a meeting happens or not, and a working level meeting appears to be likely, Stoltenberg's government is in disarray on how to deal with Hamas. The flap over whether to meet officially with visiting Hamas parliamentarians follows on the heels of a related controversy over whether Norway would provide assistance to a Hamas-led Palestinian government -- with Stoere insisting that aid would be cut off unless Hamas met the Quartet's conditions and Development Minister Solheim countering that no blanket aid cut-off was in the works. Solheim even insisted later that "Foreign Minister Stoere and I are fully coordinated." As this weeks events demonstrate, the government is anything but fully coordinated. END COMMENT Visit Oslo's Classified website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/oslo/index.cf m WHITNEY