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PRAISES COURAGE IN EXPOSING HOAX
Militant Palestinian group
Hamas
springs to Iran's defense TEHRAN (AFP) — Khaled Meshaal also praised Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, for his "courage" in having dismissed the Holocaust as a myth and calling for Israel to be moved out of the Middle East to Europe or North America. "Just as Islamic Iran defends the rights of the Palestinians, we defend the rights of Islamic Iran," Meshaal told reporters in Tehran on Thursday. "We are part of a united front against the enemies of Islam. "Each member of this front defends itself with its own means in its region. We carry the battle in Palestine. If Israel launches an attack against Iran, we will expand the battlefield. 'United front' "We are part of a united front, and if one member of this front is attacked it is our duty to support them." Israel and the US accuse Iran of using an atomic energy drive as a cover for weapons development, which the Islamic republic denies. Ahmadinejad has increased alarm in the West after calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map". On Wednesday he drew fresh condemnation after denying the massacre of Jews during World War II took place. Meshaal said: "We congratulate Iran for its position in the Islamic world and in particular the statements of the supreme leader [Ayat Allah Ali Khamenei) and President Ahmadinejad. 'Courageous declarations' "What Iranian officials say may not please some people, but these are just courageous declarations. "The Muslim people will defend Iran because it voices what they have in their hearts, in particular the Palestinian people." On Iran's nuclear program, he said: "Even if Iran's program is military, what is the problem? Why do other countries like Israel have the right to have a nuclear weapon?" Meshaal met on Tuesday with Iran's supreme leader, who urged Palestinians to continue resistance against Israel and not bother negotiating. Resistance the only way to liberation "The only way to guarantee the liberation of Palestine and the future of its people is to continue resistance," Khamenei said. "The past 50 years' experience shows the situation will not be improved by giving into the Zionist regime and negotiating." Iran supports Palestinian resistance groups but denies it is financing or arming them. "We declared a ceasefire nine months ago," Meshaal said. "It will hold until the end of 2005, after which there will be a transition period towards resistance." "I give the assurance that the Palestinian people and the resistance groups, in particular Hamas, will continue their resistance and are determined to take back all the Islamic land of Palestine," he insisted. "The five million Palestinian refugees must return
to their land ... The occupation is not legitimate, and we will not
give up an inch of our land."
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