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#20 - JRL 2006-177 - JRL Home
Primakov Says Hizballah, HAMAS Should Be Offered Surrender Deal

MOSCOW. Aug 5 (Interfax) - Yevgeny Primakov, who was at different times Russian foreign minister and prime minister, suggested in a television program on Saturday that a proposal be made to Hezbollah and Hamas that they voluntarily lay down their arms, a proposal similar to one Russia has made to Chechen militants.

"We now address the Chechens and say that all those who are under arms, all those who have taken part in fighting federal forces, and so on - unless they've got blood on their hands, unless they have their record stained with crime - that they may lay down their arms and expect an amnesty," Primakov, who today is president of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Russian channel NTV.

"This means we believe there are forces one can cooperate with," he said.

"Why cannot the same be said to Hezbollah, why cannot the same be said to Hamas? There are all kinds of people there," Primakov said.