Mr. Hamas, meet Mr. Rock and Mr. Hard Place

You'll be bunking up for the next little bit.

World powers tell Hamas to change or lose aid

. . . the so-called Quartet, made up of Russia, the European Union, the United States and the United Nations, stressed after a meeting in London that international donors would continue to aid the caretaker government of President Mahmoud Abbas, at least until a new government was formed.

The goal was to give Hamas, which won a shock victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections last week, some breathing space to change its policies before forming a new government, possibly within three months, said U.S. and E.U. officials.

"The Quartet concluded that it was inevitable that future assistance to any new government would be reviewed by donors against that government's commitment to the principles of non-violence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations," said a statement by the Quartet.

I really love how Reuters uses "The Quartet" (following, of course, "the Quartet"'s usage). It's like a combination between some wack gangsta outfit and an avant garde classical group.