Arab FM to pay same aid level to Palestinians
Regional-Palestine, Politics, 3/27/2006

Arab foreign ministers on Sunday ignored Western explanations for cutting aid to the Palestinian Authority but offered no extra money to compensate for a budget shortfall when Hamas Islamists take office.

The ministers, meeting in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to prepare for an Arab summit this week, renewed an old pledge to give the Palestinians some $50 million a month and left open the possibility of giving more later if the Palestinians need it.

They rejected unilateral steps by Israel, as interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in Jerusalem he wanted to define Israel's borders without dealing with a Hamas government.

The Palestinians say they already face a financial crisis because Israel refuses to hand over about $55 million a month which it collects in tax and customs revenue on their behalf.

A resolution approved by the Arab ministers said "(The council of ministers) calls on the international community to continue to provide grants and financial and economic assistance to the Palestinian Authority."

It said the ministers "reject the pretexts (for threatening to cut aid) and point out the dangerous negative repercussions it would have on the economic and social circumstances of the Palestinian people and on stability and security in the region."

They asked the Palestinian Authority to prepare a report on the amount of aid it will lose if donors cut aid and submit it to Arab governments "to take an appropriate decision on it."

They also added an endorsement of the international peace plan known as the road map, which commits the Palestinian Authority to disband unofficial militias such as that of Hamas.

Delegates said that governments friendly toward the United States, including Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, had pressed for a mention of the road map against the objections of Syria.

Concerning Iraq, the Arab foreign ministers promised that their governments would set up a diplomatic presence in Baghdad as soon as possible, provided the Iraqi government ensures adequate protection.

The ministers also recommended that the Arab leaders, who meet in Khartoum on Tuesday and Wednesday, cancel Iraq's debts to Arab governments, estimated at billions of dollars dating back to the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.

Previous Stories:
  Arab League supports Hamas government   (3/24/2006)
  Moussa: Hamas asked conditions while Israel assassinates and creates settlements   (2/8/2006)
  Doha, Riyadh call for accepting Hamas victory   (2/1/2006)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search