ATHENS Sheikh Ahmed Yasin, founder and spiritual mentor of the Islamic Resistance Organization, Hamas, is unrelentingly opposed to ``any dialogue with the entity of oppression (Israel) because this would lead nowhere.'' Sheikh Yasin spoke with the Palestinian Arabic weekly Sawt al Haq Wal Hurriyya (voice of truth and freedom). The following are excerpts of what he said: Question: There is a lot of vagueness concerning the political course of Hamas. Does the movement want to remain a military organization or combine armed struggle with political action? Answer: To begin with, there is no movement the world over that adopts military struggle without having political goals because the former is always entwined with the latter.

We at Hamas have a very clear policy. We want to recover our rights and establish our Palestinian state. Politics is the means with which we deal with all states and organizations. Hence, we adopted the principle of a step-by-step solution provided that Israel leave the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Al-Qods in return for a `hudna' or an extended truce.

Q: But from the political view point, does Hamas absolutely reject the principle of talks or negotiations with Israel? A: I object to the wording of your question for two reasons: first, I don't recognize Israel and am unwilling to talk to her because such a thing would imply recognition; second, we are careful not to allow the Zionist entity to exhaust us as they exhausted the PLO. Moreover, if the Israelis are serious about peace, why don't they just leave us alone and leave our land.

Look, they have given the PLO nothing despite the huge concessions to them by the PA. This (negotiations with Israel) is a route fraught with deception and equivocation, and we are not willing to give it any consideration. Q: I am saying in case an offer is made to Hamas? A: I'm not willing to divide the Palestinian cause to small fragments, I won't recognize Israel. Q: Do you support any progress in the talks like extending Palestinian Authority to more land and releasing Palestinian prisoners? A: I don't mind releasing prisoners; but you have got to remember that the PA has conceded every thing to the Israelis. Q:Is there any room for reconciling military struggle against Israel with PA opposition to it? A: Reconciling the irreconcilable is very difficult, indeed.

We are supposed to resist the occupation and the PA is resisting the resistance. However, we are doing everything possible to avoid any unnecessary friction with the PA. Q: The PA is insisting on its rejection of any armed struggle against Israel? A: The peace process has now reached a dead-end. In the past, the PA harbored certain hopes and therefore moved against us.

Now, these hopes have evaporated, so, moving against us anew would be meaningless and unacceptable. Q: Does the PA benefit from Hamas' military struggle? A: Certainly. Q: Don't you see a certain inconsistency in Hamas' policy. On the one hand you are continuing the struggle, on the other you are careful not to collide with the PA? A: There is no inconsistency.

Our policy is very clear. We want to fight our oppressors; the PA rejects this. What we want from the PA is to realize that we are not against it and we won't fight it despite the fact the PA is siding with the enemy against us as demonstrated in the torture to which our brothers were subjected in PA jails and detention centers.

Q: The PA says you want to destroy its national dream? A: This is not true; Hamas doesn't want to destroy the PA; the moment Hamas point its guns at or on the PA, you can say something like this. We are against the occupier and the PA is utterly unable to remove the occupier's oppression from our land. The right to resist the occupation is absolutely legitimate.

Q: Why won't Hamas give the PA a respite for one or two years to take its chance? A: We didn't sign the Oslo accords and were not part to it. In any case, the accords were born dead, so that you can't give a dead body a chance. The only chance it deserves is to allow it to be buried.

Q: What is the alternative, then? A: The PA has made a big blunder, hence it now faces an unenviable situation. Undoing Oslo and resuming the Intifada is the alternative. Q: Since your release from prison, the PA is ignoring you. A: We make our views known through the media. Q: What is the national program of Hamas? A: Hamas is established on the ground with its social, educational and other institutions.

Even Islamists who work within the PA, are active in building for the future. Q: Hamas leaders claim there is total separation between the political and military wings of the movement, is this true? A: This is not true. Our political line is unequivocal; and our brothers at the military wing understands that. Q: Will Hamas continue to be a secret movement? A: Hamas is a fighting movement, and Jihad requires a great deal of secrecy.

Q: Do you have a message for Arafat? A: Reconsider your calculations.