FRENCH: HAMAS HAS CONTACTS WITH AL QAEDA

Hamas has contacts with al Qaeda - French FM (YNet)
Palestinian militant group Hamas has contacts with al Qaeda, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Wednesday, adding that this was not the result of Western pressure to isolate the movement.

"I think Hamas did not wait for this extreme situation -- the current terrible situation in Gaza -- to have contacts with al Qaeda. And it would perhaps be too simple to think that we, the international community, are responsible," Kouchner said.