Arab League, Saudi Arabia transfer $100m to Palestinians

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Last update - 23:33 04/07/2006
Arab League, Saudi Arabia transfer $100m to Palestinians
By News Agencies

The Arab League and Saudi Arabia have transferred some
$100 million to the Palestinians, the first funding since international aid was cut off after the Hamas militant group won legislative elections, a top Palestinian official and the Arab League said Tuesday.

Nabil Shaath, an aide to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, said the Arab aid money bypassed the Hamas government and was transferred directly to Abbas on Monday.

Abbas will control how the funds are spent, he said.

The EU, the U.S. and other donors froze hundreds of millions of dollars in direct aid to the Palestinian government after Hamas won elections in January, demanding that the group recognize Israel and cease all support of
terrorism.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa in Cairo, Shaath said the Arab League had transferred half of the $100 million while Saudi Arabia directly transferred the other half.

"This is a glimpse of hope ... and a step toward squeezing-out of the siege," said Shaath.

Moussa said the Hamas-led government had been aware of the transfer. "The transfer was in complete coordination with the Palestinian government," he said.

Since March, Arab states have collected aid for the Palestinians, but the money could not be transferred because international banks refused to allow the Arab League to transfer funds electronically to Palestinian territories, fearing sanctions from the U.S., which labels Hamas a terror group.

Shaath and Moussa did not specify how the funds were transferred to the Palestinian Authority on Monday, or where the money had come from.

Twice last month, globe-trotting Palestinian cabinet ministers returned to the impoverished Gaza Strip at the border crossing with Egypt with millions of dollars stuffed in their luggage. The ministers did not specify who had donated the cash.

International sponsors of a stalled Mideast peace plan agreed last month to channel aid to Palestinians for health care, utilities and social services, while continuing to boycott the militant-led government.

Major world donors set a mechanism through which international aid would be provided to keep the Palestinian economy afloat, and urged the Arab governments to follow suit. This channel was set to be managed by the World Bank and the EU, working with Abbas - whose Fatah movement is the main political rival of Hamas.

While non-Arab League donors have not so far sent aid to the Palestinians through the channel they created, Moussa said the league had been in contact with "the international mechanism" over its transfer on Monday.

"Money can be transferred if it is going to the President and if it is under his supervision," Abbas' deputy Mohammed Sobeih told The Associated Press.

The EU has said foreign funds would not be used to pay the salaries of Palestinian government workers - which Israel opposes - but could be used for "social allowances" to health workers and needy families.

Shaath did not specify on Tuesday how Abbas will disburse the money received from the Arab League and Saudi Arabia.

Shaath's announcement came amid mounting Palestinian-Israeli tension over the abduction of IDF Corporal Gilad Shalit 10 days ago by Gaza-based militants affiliated to Hamas.

Arab bloc demands UN censure of Israel
Arab and Muslim states will demand the UN's top human rights forum to censure Israel for alleged abuses against Palestinians and that it halt the Israel Defense Forces' operation in Gaza, according to a draft text obtained by Reuters on Tuesday.

Tunisia, acting on behalf of the 57-country Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), submitted the resolution to the UN Human Rights Council ahead of its special session on the territories - scheduled for Wednesday at the OIC's request.

The OIC draft text accuses Israel of arbitrarily arresting Palestinian leaders and of destroying bridges, and water and power plants.

A simple majority would be required for adoption by the 47-member state forum in Geneva. Diplomats expected the debate to continue on Thursday and the vote to be close.

The forum, which has moral authority, succeeded the widely-discredited UN Commission on Human Rights, but has already been criticized by Israel and the United States of singling out Israel.

Earlier on Tuesday, Israel warned the governing Palestinian faction Hamas that the "sky will fall on them" if they harm Corporal Shalit after a deadline passed for Israel to accept a prisoner exchange.

The OIC text documents alleged breaches by Israel of international humanitarian and human rights law, including "the arbitrary arrest of Palestinian ministers, members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and other officials" as well as the arbitrary arrest of other civilians.

It "demands that Israel, the occupying power, end its military operations in the occupied Palestinian territory ... and refrain from imposing collective punishment on Palestinian civilians."

The draft resolution requests that UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour be sent on an urgent visit to the region and report back on "Israeli human rights violations."

It also asks that John Dugard, an independent UN investigator on human rights in the occupied territories, should participate in the special session.

The Council, which wound up its inaugural two-week session last Friday, agreed to keep Israel in the dock for alleged abuses in the territories, overcoming U.S.-led opposition to pursuing an "unbalanced agenda".

The U.S. delegation has observer status at the forum after choosing not to stand for election.


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