Members of the Quartet ? the European Union, the United Nations, the United States and Russia ? met in London to discuss whether isolating Hamas politically and financially is the best policy after the Islamic militants surprise victory in last week?s parliamentary elections.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in London for the meeting, said while the United States would fulfill its current aid commitments to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Washington could not fund Hamas in government.

?We are going to have extensive discussions in the Quartet about the way forward. But the United States is not prepared to fund an organization that advocates the destruction of Israel, that advocates violence and that refuses its obligations under the roadmap to which everyone is committed,? said Rice.

Rice said she believed Quartet members and many others were on the same page and would not prop up Hamas with the funds it desperately needs when it takes over the Palestinian Authority.

Recognize Israel

?I have seen nothing to suggest that people are not on the same page,? she said. The European Union also cannot fund a Hamas-run Palestinian Authority if it did not renounce violence and recognize Israel, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

?Such a Palestinian Authority cannot be directly supported by money from the EU,? said Merkel on Sunday soon after her arrival in Jerusalem at the start of her first official visit to the region.

Last year the EU gave the Palestinian Authority 500 million Euros ($ 615 million), money vital for its survival. The United States, which has given more than $1.5 billion in aid to the Palestinians since 1993, has begun a full review of its assistance programs to the Palestinians since Hamas swept the polls last week. For 2006, the United States had budgeted $234 million in assistance to the Palestinians.

Hamas has rejected as ?blackmail? Western demands that it renounce violence against Israel or risk losing aid. It also suggested it could look for alternative sources of funding in the Arab world and beyond. One risk of completing cutting off funds to a Hamas-led government in the Palestinian territories is that Iran and Syria might fill the gap. Rice scoffed at suggestions these countries could fill the gap, saying Hamas risked losing money from financial institutions, Asia, Europe and elsewhere.

?This is a pretty big gap.?Former US ambassador to Israel and to Egypt, Ned Walker, said Rice would try her best to convince all members of the Quartet that the time had come to draw the line on Hamas. ?They need the money, this is not the time to get weak and let Hamas dictate terms,? Walker told Reuters.

Sue PLEMING

Hamas plans to use Sharia as guide for laws

Hamas will use sharia as a guide for legislation after winning Palestinian elections, but has no plan to enforce strict Islamic law, close bars or stop men and women mixing in public, a senior leader said on Sunday. Hamas?s shock victory in last week?s parliamentary election has stirred concerns among more liberal Palestinians that the Islamist group could enforce conservative views after defeating President Mahmoud Abbas?s secular Fatah movement.

?We will not intervene in any aspect of Palestinian life ... except to convince people in a polite way,? said Mahmoud Ramahi, a member of the Hamas politburo who won a seat in the new parliament. ?We are making efforts so that the sharia will be the source of legislation, but in order to implement Islamic rule, this needs a state. When we get a state, we will leave it to people to choose,? he told Reuters in an interview.

?We will let the people decide by holding a referendum, and we are sure the Palestinian people will choose Islam.? Hamas softened some of its rhetoric ahead of the Palestinian election, emphasising its fight against corruption and its charity work rather than its formal aim of replacing Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip with an Islamic state.

Having won the election, Hamas now hopes to court other Palestinian parties to join a coalition and cannot afford to say anything that will drive them off. Fatah leaders have already said they do not want to join Hamas in government.

Mohammed ASSAD