White House hopes Hamas does not offer Al-Qaeda refuge

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States on Monday said it hoped Hamas would not offer Al-Qaeda refuge in the Gaza Strip after the network voiced support for the Palestinian Islamist group.

Osama bin Laden's right-hand man Ayman al-Zawahiri voiced backing for Hamas and warned against any offensive to wrest control of Gaza from the Islamist movement, in an Internet tape on Monday.

In the audio message, Al-Qaeda's number two charged that Egypt and Saudi Arabia were planning to join an "offensive" against Hamas, which seized Gaza 10 days ago from the secular Fatah party of president Mahmud Abbas.

And in a dramatic change of tone, Zawawhiri urged Muslim fighters to back Hamas with funds and weapons, saying it was a "religious duty."

"Today we must support...