Tuesday February 21, 2006
Arab League fails to agree on Palestinian funding under Hamas
ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) - Arab League foreign ministers have failed to agree on aid for the Palestinians as they come under rule of the militant Hamas, amid a dispute over commitments from each member state.
Only three members of the league have contributed aid for the Palestinians, Algerian officials said after a meeting in Algiers that ran into late Monday night.
The Arab League's Secretary General Amr Moussa and Algerian State Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem appealed at the meeting for all other member states to contribute funds.
Speaking at a news conference after the meeting, they did not indicate which countries had not paid or give details of the dispute.
The Palestinians' largest donors, the United States and the European Union, have threatened to cut off direct aid to the Palestinian Authority if Hamas takes over the government.
Such a cutoff would "pose a serious political problem for the Palestinians,'' Moussa said. In urging more Arab donations, he said "the aid is destined for the Palestinian people and not for Hamas.''
It is unclear whether Arab states can fill the gap in foreign aid that makes up most of the Palestinians' US$1.9 billion (euro1.6 billion) annual budget. A final decision on Palestinian funding was expected at a summit next month in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.
After a landslide election victory last month, Hamas - considered a terrorist group by the United States and Europe - is moving to form a government.
Foreign ministers and other representatives from the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Sudan, Tunisia, Yemen and Algeria were taking part in the meeting. They also discussed the uproar in the Muslim world over the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published in several countries.AP
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