Bridge for Sale Alert. Completely contradicting its Charter and the repeated statements of its leadership right up to the last few days, Hamas is now singing a moderate tune. Caveat emptor. From [1] AFP, with thanks to Mackie:

The Hamas-led Palestinian government is ready to live side by side with all its neighbours, its foreign minister has said in a letter to the UN secretary-general.

The letter from Mahmud al-Zahar also referred to a "two state solution" for the Middle East conflict, an outcome that would require recognition of Israel, a state which the the Islamist group denies has a right to exist.

"We are looking for freedom and independence side by side with our neighbours and we are ready for serious discussions with the Quartet," said a copy of the letter to Kofi Annan, the UN chief, obtained by AFP on Tuesday.

ADDENDUM: An important observation from Jihad Watch reader Sage: "In your piece on the recent letter al-Zahar sent to the UN, it is noted that the letter mentions a 'two-state solution'. I think it should also be noted that the relevant sentence in the letter reads: 'Israeli procedures in the occupied territories will put an end to all hopes to reach a final settlement based on the two-state solution.' There is no mention of Hamas actually favoring such a solution."

Note also, as Jihad Watch reader The Hindu points out, this is the same Mahmud al-Zahar who just the other day was [2] dreaming of a map without Israel.