MOSCOW, January 27 (RIA Novosti) - The apparent victory of the radical Hamas movement in the Palestinian parliamentary elections Wednesday could cause tensions throughout the region, a senior member of the Russian lower house of parliament said Friday.
Mikhail Grishankov, a deputy head of the State Duma's security committee, said the prospect of armed lawmakers in power would make any sensible person worry about the consequences.
"What will happen tomorrow? What kind of laws will they adopt and what kind of policy will they pursue?" he asked.
The elevation of Islamic militants may break the fragile peace the region is enjoying at the moment, Grishankov said.
He said he hoped common sense and a sober assessment of regional developments would prevail in Hamas' policy. He also said the UN's power would have to be used in full if the situation deteriorated. Grishankov even suggested that economic sanctions might be levied against the Palestinian National Authority.
"Palestine lives on foreign donations and sanctions would mean famine for the Palestinians. This would end Hamas' clout in one week's time," he said.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said Friday that the parliamentary elections of the Palestinian National Authority demonstrated Palestinians' ability to form their own state.
Preliminary elections results show that Hamas, which has claimed responsibility for suicide bombings in Israel and has called for the destruction of the country, has won the majority, beating out the ruling Fatah faction.
"By all accounts, the elections were held in an organized and open way and on the whole met international norms and standards. Whatever the final results, they demonstrated the ability of the Palestinians to progress toward creating their own state," the ministry said.
The elections to the Legislative Council were held January 25 with an 80% voter turnout.
