国际英语新闻：Hamas seeks direct talks with U.S. as Obama pledges to achieve regional peace

GAZA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Hamas movement on Sunday called on the United States for direct dialogue, while U.S. President Barack Obama pledged in a letter to the Palestinians that his administration is non-stop working on assisting the Middle East peace efforts.

The deposed Hamas government said in a statement emailed to Xinhua that it had recently sent a letter to the U.S. administration, calling for direct talks between the movement and the U.S. and ending the U.S. double standard policy in dealing with the Palestinian cause.

"The government (Hamas) had sent official letters to a senior U. S. delegation visiting the Gaza Strip, some political figures and professors, calling on the U.S. to start direct dialogue with Hamas," said the statement.

Lifting the U.S. veto on the inter-Palestinian reconciliation " would facilitate achieving it and ending the U.S. double standard in dealing with the Palestinian cause," the statement said, adding the Hamas government doesn't oppose the idea of establishing an independent Palestinian state.

"We reject the bribery offered by the U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell to the Palestinians for resuming the negotiations, mainly easing the siege, lifting some roadblocks and releasing some prisoners in Israeli jails. These are existing rights that were confiscated by Israel," said the statement.

The Hamas government also warned of what it termed as " unofficial channels of negotiations, which may surprise the Palestinian people with a new treaty similar to Oslo Agreement," adding "we have expressed our clear stance that we are against the direct and indirect peace negotiations."

Meanwhile, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported on Sunday that U.S. President Barack Obama reiterated to the Palestinians that his administration would be working on assisting the Middle East peace efforts.