Hamas ‘not afraid’ of President Obama

Ahmed Bahar, first deputy chairman of the Palestinian Legislative Council, has attacked US President Barack Obama over remarks he made about Hamas during his recent regional tour of the Middle East. Obama has criticised Hamas for being a terrorist organisation, meanwhile suggesting Lebanon’s Hezbollah should join Hamas on international terror lists. “The occupier is the terrorist,” he said. “Not the Palestinian people who are defending their land.” Baher, speaking at a ceremony at al-Aqsa University in Khan Younis to mark the anniversary of the death of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, accused Obama of supporting Zionism. “We are not afraid of Obama’s remarks or the Netanyahu government. We are preparing for the battle of liberation,” he claimed. The Hamas chief has called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to pull out of “absurd negotiations,” which -- he said -- only allowed for the occupation of Jerusalem and the wholesale expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.