Hamas leader rails against `US-Zionist conspiracy'

Arabs and Muslims must join forces to defend themselves against the US and Israel and support the Palestinians in their worsening conflict with the Jewish state, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said late Monday.

Mashaal, who is the political chief of the Palestinian militant organization, described America and Israel as "the leading dangers" confronting Arabs and Muslims around the world.

The Syrian-based Hamas leader made his comments to about 500 people at a rally after a condolence ceremony at the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, outside Damascus, held for Abdel Aziz Rantisi, the Hamas leader in Gaza assassinated by Israel on Saturday.

"Arabs and Muslims have to join together in order to stand against the arrogance of the Zionists and the Americans," Mashaal said, adding that "Hamas will reply to the killing of Dr. Rantisi." He did not say how.

Mashaal's comments come amid Arab anger at Rantisi's killing plus the Bush administration's endorsement last week of a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the Palestinian West Bank in exchange for US concessions on keeping Israeli settlement on other Palestinian-claimed land.

US President George W. Bush also embraced Israeli rejection of any "right of return" for Palestinian refugees after a White House meeting with Sharon.

"The Arab governments have to stop the Zionist-American plan to control the Arab world," Mashaal said.

"The Palestinians have done their duties and offered martyrs in Palestine and now the Arabs have to unite with the Palestinians,"

In an interview on Sunday, Mashaal blamed Washington for Rantisi's death, saying the Bush administration's endorsement of Israel's proposal to hold onto West Bank Jewish settlements encouraged Sharon to give the go-ahead for the Hamas leader's killing.

Rantisi was killed less than a month after becoming Hamas' chief in Gaza following Israel's assassination of the militant group's previous leader, Sheik Ahmed Yassin.

Mashaal, who Israeli officials have also targeted for assassination, said Hamas has appointed a replacement for Rantisi in Gaza, but has not released his identity, apparently for security reasons.

Mashaal's outspoken speeches have become more regular since Yassin's and Rantisi's deaths, marking a shift in the apparent Syrian crackdown on Damascus-based Palestinian groups after the US last year began urging Syria to curb the influence of anti-Israeli groups operating on its soil.

In December, Bush signed legislation calling for sanctions to be imposed against Syria if it maintains its purported support of militant groups and terrorists involved in the insurgency in Iraq.

The Bush administration is still assessing how to administer the legislation.

Syria has said that it has closed Palestinian militants' offices in Damascus and insists the militant groups are not terrorists but fighters resisting Israeli occupation of their homeland. It also says it is trying to prevent fighters from crossing its border into Iraq and denies it is pursuing weapons of mass destruction.