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U.S. to cut Abbas’ aid
The United States will cut funds for the security forces of the Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
About $36m (£18m; 27m euros) would be slashed from a proposed $86m package, American officials said, adding that the decision was made over fears that the money could end up with Hamas.
The U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a congressional committee the funds would be cut from an aid package meant for Abbas' National Security Forces, (NSF), the largest security force under the Palestinian President’s control and considered equivalent of an army.
According to Reuters, Rice said the revised plan "will request less money, precisely because some of the money that I would have requested I did not think I could fully account for”.
Correspondents say the move indicates the U.S.’s nervousness at the new coalition between Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah party, which was formed last week after Western powers refused to deal with the previous Hamas-led Palestinian Authority since the resistance group won the legislative elections early last year.
The National Security Forces are one of about 12 Palestinian security forces, some of which are loyal to Hamas.
Hamas has long denounced Washington’s efforts to boost Abbas’ Fatah forces by providing them with advanced weapons that contributed to the escalation of fighting between the two rival parties.
Rice’s announcement comes a day after the U.S. made its first contact meeting with a member of the Palestinian unity cabinet.
The meeting between Jacob Walles, the U.S. consul in Jerusalem, and Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, an independent, was the first official encounter between a senior American official and a Palestinian cabinet minister in a year.
Washington says it will boycott all members of the Palestinian government who belong to Hamas, which it regards as a terrorist group.
”Quartet to judge unity cabinet by its actions”
Meanwhile, the so-called Middle East peace Quartet – the U.S., UN, EU and Russia – has reached a decision regarding how it would deal with the new Palestinian cabinet.
In a statement, the group reaffirmed that the Palestinian government must recognize Israel, give up anti-Israeli attacks and accept past peace deals in order to receive international aid which was cut after Hamas came to power.
But in an apparent gesture to Mahmud Abbas’ Fatah party, the Quartet said the new administration would not be judged solely on its "composition and platform, but also its actions."
Correspondents say the fact that it took the Quartet two days to release the statement indicates a lively debate among its members over how to respond to the new unity government.
Abbas has long agreed to the Quartet demands, but the platform of the Hamas-led government unveiled last Saturday agreed only to "respect" existing international agreements signed by Abbas and reaffirmed the Palestinians' right to "resistance" against Israeli occupation.
In another development, the UN said international aid to the Palestinians grew in 2006, despite the Western aid embargo.
Last year, the Palestinians received more than $1.2bn, compared to $1bn in 2005, according to the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Associated Press news agency reported.
Much of the money was channeled to humanitarian projects, bypassing the Hamas-led government, according to AP.
The European Union contributed about $930m - an increase of more than 30% on 2005 - while emergency aid also came from the UN and the Arab world, the news agency reported.
Source: Aljazeera
U.S. to cut Abbas’ aid
The United States will cut funds for the security forces of the Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
About $36m (£18m; 27m euros) would be slashed from a proposed $86m package, American officials said, adding that the decision was made over fears that the money could end up with Hamas.
The U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a congressional committee the funds would be cut from an aid package meant for Abbas' National Security Forces, (NSF), the largest security force under the Palestinian President’s control and considered equivalent of an army.
According to Reuters, Rice said the revised plan "will request less money, precisely because some of the money that I would have requested I did not think I could fully account for”.
Correspondents say the move indicates the U.S.’s nervousness at the new coalition between Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah party, which was formed last week after Western powers refused to deal with the previous Hamas-led Palestinian Authority since the resistance group won the legislative elections early last year.
The National Security Forces are one of about 12 Palestinian security forces, some of which are loyal to Hamas.
Hamas has long denounced Washington’s efforts to boost Abbas’ Fatah forces by providing them with advanced weapons that contributed to the escalation of fighting between the two rival parties.
Rice’s announcement comes a day after the U.S. made its first contact meeting with a member of the Palestinian unity cabinet.
The meeting between Jacob Walles, the U.S. consul in Jerusalem, and Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, an independent, was the first official encounter between a senior American official and a Palestinian cabinet minister in a year.
Washington says it will boycott all members of the Palestinian government who belong to Hamas, which it regards as a terrorist group.
”Quartet to judge unity cabinet by its actions”
Meanwhile, the so-called Middle East peace Quartet – the U.S., UN, EU and Russia – has reached a decision regarding how it would deal with the new Palestinian cabinet.
In a statement, the group reaffirmed that the Palestinian government must recognize Israel, give up anti-Israeli attacks and accept past peace deals in order to receive international aid which was cut after Hamas came to power.
But in an apparent gesture to Mahmud Abbas’ Fatah party, the Quartet said the new administration would not be judged solely on its "composition and platform, but also its actions."
Correspondents say the fact that it took the Quartet two days to release the statement indicates a lively debate among its members over how to respond to the new unity government.
Abbas has long agreed to the Quartet demands, but the platform of the Hamas-led government unveiled last Saturday agreed only to "respect" existing international agreements signed by Abbas and reaffirmed the Palestinians' right to "resistance" against Israeli occupation.
In another development, the UN said international aid to the Palestinians grew in 2006, despite the Western aid embargo.
Last year, the Palestinians received more than $1.2bn, compared to $1bn in 2005, according to the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Associated Press news agency reported.
Much of the money was channeled to humanitarian projects, bypassing the Hamas-led government, according to AP.
The European Union contributed about $930m - an increase of more than 30% on 2005 - while emergency aid also came from the UN and the Arab world, the news agency reported.
Source: Aljazeera
