LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Britain and France clashed on Monday over whether the European Union should blacklist the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is resisting pressure to accept a cease-fire with Israel.[...]

Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh said the EU needed to establish whether putting Hamas on its terrorist list while seeking its agreement to a cease-fire was the right strategy.

And de Villepin made a distinction between "mass movements" and "terrorists." "It is in our interest to have Palestinian interlocutors, I distrust a strategy based on cutting off dialogue," he said.[...]

Despite his optimism about talks being led by Egypt, there was no sign on Monday that Hamas and other groups spearheading armed resistance to Israeli occupation were ready to back down.

The EU's outgoing Middle East peace envoy, Miguel Angel Moratinos, told Spain's El Pais daily on Monday the bloc should add Hamas to its terrorist groups list because a political agreement would be impossible "if they carry on bombing."

But Villepin dismissed the envoy's comment, noting: "He's at the end of his mandate."

He also sniped at Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for visiting only his Israeli counterpart, Ariel Sharon, and not Palestinian leaders during a recent visit to the region. "Mr. Berlusconi did not live up to the European position," he said.

At the weekend Villepin had raised the possibility of sending an EU peacekeeping force to the occupied territories to halt the Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed.

Although the Palestinians have welcomed the idea of an interposition force in the past, Shaath was not enthusiastic, and there was a cool reception from France's EU partners.

The military wing of Hamas, responsible for many suicide attacks on Israel since the 2000 launch of an uprising against occupation of Palestinian territories, is already on the EU's list of banned "terrorist" groups whose assets may be seized.

Despite his optimism about talks being led by Egypt, there was no sign on Monday that Hamas and other groups spearheading armed resistance to Israeli occupation were ready to back down.