DEBKAfile - “We come to power with gun in hand!” Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal declared at a rally in Qatar Friday night, Feb. 10

DEBKAfile - We start where the media stop

“We come to power with gun in hand!” Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal declared at a rally in Qatar Friday night, Feb. 10

February 13, 2006, 11:24 AM (GMT+02:00)

“The Palestinian rifle proved its power to evict the Jews from the Gaza Strip when Israel carried out its evacuation,” Meshaal declared. “Unless we use force, no one will talk to us. At this moment, Palestinian government belongs to the force whose platform pledges warfare.”

DEBKAfile’s political sources describe the rush of events Friday as blowing away the last remnants of the Middle East policies charted in Washington and Jerusalem.

Our Moscow sources report Meshaal made his speech after Russia’s special Middle East envoy Alexander Kalugin personally handed him President Putin’s invitation to visit the Russian capital. He then received a pile of invitations from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Syria. Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan said he justified the Russian-French position. “I too invite Hamas leaders to Ankara,” he said.