PARIS, May 19 -- France has had contacts with the leaders of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas "for several months," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Monday.

"We must be able to talk if we want to play a role," Kouchner said in a radio interview. "These are not relations, they are contacts."

Kouchner's remarks followed the publication Monday of an interview with France's emissary to Hamas -- a former ambassador to Iraq -- in the daily newspaper Le Figaro.

The disclosure of French contacts with Hamas, which the United States and European Union consider a terrorist organization, followed an uproar in the U.S. presidential campaign over the issue of government contacts with sponsors of terrorism.

President Bush, during a Middle East visit last week, told the Israeli parliament, "Some seem to believe we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along." He compared the willingness to meet with "terrorists and radicals" to the pre-World War II "appeasement" of Nazi Germany.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama chastised Bush for what he said was an obvious slap at his comments that the United States should open lines of communication with countries such as Iran and Syria in an effort to advance peace. The senator from Illinois has not advocated negotiating with the Hamas organization.

Hamas defeated the Fatah movement, long dominant in the Palestinian territories, in January 2006 parliamentary elections. After a power-sharing deal failed, Hamas last June forcibly took control of the Gaza Strip, where it is much stronger and more influential than Fatah, which continues to control the Palestinian Authority from its base in the West Bank.

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter drew criticism from Israel and the Bush administration for meeting with Hamas leaders in Damascus, Syria, last month.

Regarding the French contacts, Israeli officials said they had been assured that France's policy had not changed.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, "We don't believe it is helpful to the process of bringing peace to the region."

Carter and French emissary Yves Aubin de la Messuzi¿re gave similar accounts of their separate sessions with Hamas, saying its leadership appeared willing to moderate its political positions.

Kouchner, in his interview with Europe 1 radio, said Hamas still does not recognize the state of Israel but is "more flexible than before" on the subject. Historically, Hamas has called for Israel's elimination.

"They assured that they were ready to accept a Palestinian state," de la Messuzi¿re told Le Figaro, adding that the statement "amounts to an indirect recognition of Israel."

"They said they were ready to stop suicide attacks and, what surprised me is that the Islamist leaders recognize the legitimacy of Mahmoud Abbas," said de la Messuzi¿re, referring to the Palestinian Authority president from Fatah.

De la Messuzi¿re said he met with the Hamas prime minister, Ismael Haniyeh, and his Gaza foreign minister, Mahmoud Zahar.

The government announced its contacts with Hamas because "we must do so clearly" and with the full knowledge of France's partners, Kouchner said.

Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, who served in the Army until being honorably discharged last summer after over four years of service in Afghanistan, Japan, Europe and the Phillipines, today publicly announced his intention to refuse orders to deploy to Iraq.

Sgt. Chiroux made made his announcement in the Cannon House Office Building Rotunda after members of Iraq Veterans Against the War testified before the Congressional Progressive Caucus during Winter Soldier on the Hill.

Sgt. Chiroux made the following statement to the press. (Video of his announcement is also available.)

Good afternoon. My name is Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, and I served in the Army as a Photojournalist until being honorably discharged last summer after over four years of service in Afghanistan, Japan, Europe and the Phillipines. As an Army journalist whose job it was to collect and filter servicemember's stories, I heard many stomach-churning testimonies of the horrors and crimes taking place in Iraq. For fear of retaliation from the military, I failed to report these crimes, but never again will I allow fear to silence me. Never again will I fail to stand.

In February, I received a letter from the Army ordering my return to active duty, for the purpose of mobilization for Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Thanks in great part to the truths of war being fearlessly spoken by my fellow IVAW members, I stand before you today with the strength, clarity and resolve to declare to the military and the world that this Soldier will not be deploying to Iraq.

This occupation is unconstitutional and illegal and I hereby lawfully refuse to participate as I will surely be a party to war crimes. Furthermore, deployment in support of illegal war violates all of my core values as a human being, but in keeping with those values, I choose to remain in the United States to defend myself from charges brought by the Army if they so wish to pursue them. I refuse to participate in the occupation of Iraq.