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Politics : Bush Administration's Media Manipulation--MediaGate? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sea_biscuit who wrote (6355)	3/26/2006 9:40:40 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9838

Palestinians to tell Arabs they need $130 mln/month Reuters ^ \| 03/25/06 today.reuters.com KHARTOUM (Reuters) - The Palestinian Authority will tell an Arab summit it needs at least $130 million a month to cover its budget if the West cuts off aid when the Islamist group Hamas takes office, Economy Minister Mazen Sonnoqrot said. But Algerian Minister of State Abdelaziz Belkhadem said the Arabs had not yet agreed to go above their previous commitment to give the Palestinian Authority $50 million a month. "There's no increase now but we are hearing about the situation in Palestine," he told Reuters on Friday night. Arab foreign ministers, who start a two-day meeting in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Saturday, will discuss a draft resolution confirming their old commitment, he added. "We're eager to make sure that there is at least the minimum (of Arab aid) but there's no increase," Belkhadem said. In practice many Arab governments have not met their commitments to the Palestinians and donors such as the European Union have covered most of the budget shortfall. But since Hamas won parliamentary elections in January, the United States and Europe have started to review all their aid to the Palestinians. They call Hamas a terrorist group. Sonnoqrot said the Palestinian Authority already faced an economic crisis and many government employees had not received their salaries for February. "We've asked them (the Arab governments) to increase the subsidy to the Palestinian Authority, for those of them that have the means," he told Reuters on Friday night. Salaries alone cost the Palestinian Authority $108 million a month, plus $7 million a month in welfare payments and $25 million a month in the running costs of government departments. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said on Wednesday he expected the Arab summit, which takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday, to make specific commitments to help a Hamas government. But Arab diplomats have said it is not yet clear if the Arab leaders will go beyond their old commitment.

To: sea_biscuit who wrote (6355)	3/29/2006 3:51:53 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9838

US cuts diplomatic ties with Hamas government Agencies Wednesday March 29, 2006 guardian.co.uk The US today banned its diplomats from having any contact with the Hamas-led cabinet as it was sworn in by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. The directive, issued to US officials in the region by email, bars them from communicating with Hamas-appointed government ministers, whether they belong to the militant Islamic group or not, US officials told Reuters. The order took effect in Ramallah at 6pm (1600 GMT), when Hamas formally took power with the swearing-in of its 24-member cabinet. The first to be sworn in was the prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh. The ceremony came the day after a general election in Israel that looks set to bring a Kadima-led coalition to power. The party, founded at the end of last year by Ariel Sharon, has vowed to unilaterally withdraw from parts of the West Bank if an agreement cannot be reached with the Palestinians. After the win, the Kadima leader, Ehud Olmert, reiterated his intention to proceed with that plan. Israeli officials have ruled out new talks unless Hamas changes its ways. US diplomats would still be allowed to contact Mr Abbas, his personal office and non-Hamas members of the Palestinian parliament, but America is trying to either sideline Hamas or force it to recognise Israel, renounce violence and abide by peace accords. The group, which won Palestinian elections in January, is considered a terrorist organisation by the US. The Hamas MP Mushir Masri today said the group would not abandon its armed struggle if Mr Olmert pursued his plan to unilaterally draw the Israeli borders with the West Bank. He accused the Kadima leader of trying to gain international approval for his one-sided moves by presenting his plan as a fallback to failed negotiations. "I think proposing negotiations along with the unilateral plan is only to make the plan pass and market it to the world," Mr Masri told the Associated Press. Mr Haniyeh said yesterday that unilateral moves by Israel "definitely won't be accepted by the Palestinian people or the Palestinian government".