Rules seen preventing EU-Hamas meeting

BRUSSELS, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Efforts by European Union negotiators to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza are being hindered by terror list restrictions, observers say.

EU delegates can't talk with the political wing of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group being targeted by Israel in its military siege of Gaza, because it has been on Europe's terror list since 2003, the EU Observer reported Tuesday.

An EU peace delegation arrived in the Middle East Monday, headed by Karel Schwarzenberg, the foreign minister of the Czech Republic. European officials in Brussels said no one from the peace mission would be meeting with Hamas because it is a proscribed organization.

They instead met in the West Bank Tuesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the rival Fatah Palestinian faction, officials said.

When asked why the mission was heading to the West Bank and not to Gaza, European Commission spokesman Amadeu Tardio told the Observer: "There is a list that is decided by the Council and … this is our guideline. Hamas is on this list of terrorist organizations and this is the policy we are applying because it has been decided unanimously by the European Union."