US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice(L) and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abul Gheit give a joint press conference in Cairo. Xinhua/AFP

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday urged the Palestinian militant group Hamas to renounce violence after it swept to power in the Jan. 25 Palestinian parliamentary elections.

"You cannot have one foot in the camp of terror and another foot in the camp of politics," Rice told a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit.

The top U.S. diplomat reiterated demand that Hamas renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept existing agreements before taking power in the Palestinian territories.

"The international community expects that any Palestinian government will have to meet certain requirements for governing, which means a dedication to peace, a dedication to the agreements that the Palestinians have signed on before," Rice said.

"Obviously, you can't have peace if you don't recognize the other partner and therefore the recognition of Israel's right to exist and the need to renounce terror," she added.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday officially appointed senior Hamas leader Ismail Haneya as prime minister and asked him to form a new Palestinian government.

Hamas, branded by Israel and Washington as terrorist organization, has rejected negotiation with Israel and the Western threat to cut off aid to the future Palestinian government if it failed to meet certain conditions.

Rice, who arrived in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Tuesday, the first leg of her five-day regional tour aimed at rallying support of Washington's Arab allies for its policy on Hamas and Iran.

Rice is scheduled to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday before heading to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Rice is expected to urge the Arab allies to press Hamas to moderate its stance as Hamas leaders are wooing the Arab and Islamic world to make up the shortfall of money in case there is a cutoff in Western assistance.

Egypt, which agrees with Washington on the need for Hamas to drop its commitment to the destruction of Israel, has so far stopped short of exerting substantial pressure, apparently fearing a backlash at home where anti-U.S. sentiments are always running high.

An Arab analyst believed that Rice would also use the trip to the Gulf region to press for isolating Iran, which it accuses of seeking nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program.

Iran has denied the U.S. charge, saying that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.

"Washington needs the support of the Gulf nations, which are neighbors to Iran, for its campaign to isolate Teheran over its alleged nuclear ambitions," said Saber Rabie, a former professor of political science at Cairo University.