Azzam al-Ahmad, Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), has said that Hamas is not a terrorist organisation and rejected calls for its disarmament, revealing plans for dialogue on the movement’s possible inclusion in the PLO.

In an interview with Egypt’s Al-Shorouk newspaper, al-Ahmad addressed key political issues facing the Palestinian leadership, including the future governance of Gaza, relations between the PLO and Hamas, and international pressure to reform the Palestinian Authority.

The senior Palestinian official, elected to his post last May following the appointment of Hussein al-Sheikh as Vice President of the Palestinian Authority, said discussions would soon begin regarding Hamas’s potential membership in the PLO framework.