The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, will meet Hamas leaders in Gaza next week to negotiate terms for a power-sharing government that could win international acceptance and stave off threats to the $1bn in annual foreign aid keeping the Palestinian Authority afloat.
Abbas, who heads the Fatah party defeated in this week’s landslide victory by Hamas, has told the Islamist party he is prepared to remain president only if there is a power-sharing government that has foreign recognition.
The United States, Britain and other European countries have said they will not deal with a Hamas-led administration unless it renounces ”terror” and recognises Israel’s right to exist.
On Friday night, the White House signalled that it could sever hundreds of millions of dollars of financial aid to the Palestinian people unless Hamas changed its ways. ”We do not and will not give money to a terrorist organisation,” said Scott McClellan, a White House spokesperson.
The US channelled about $400-million to the Palestinian Authority last year, and Congress has already approved more than $200-million for this year. But congressmen have now signalled to President George Bush that they will seek suspension of much of the aid money.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, has said Europe could halt hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinians if Hamas refuses to recognise Israel’s right to exist.
The EU’s association agreement with the Palestinian Authority includes a commitment to human rights and democracy — covering a rejection of violence — while an action plan includes a commitment to the road map to peace, thereby recognising the state of Israel. ”If the PA is in breach of these agreements you would have to review the situation,” said an EU source.
Abbas is trying to hold together his movement amid deep divisions over whether to join a national unity government. Thousands of Fatah supporters staged street protests in Gaza City and the West Bank on Friday, firing guns in the air and burning cars. Some told their leaders not to work with Hamas; others employed by the Palestinian Authority want Fatah to join a coalition in the hope of keeping their jobs. About 2 000 Fatah protesters gathered outside Abbas’s home in Gaza City to demand his resignation.
Hamas told its supporters to stay off the streets and not to carry weapons in an effort to avoid confrontation. But in the first armed clash between Hamas and Fatah militants since Wednesday’s election, three people were wounded in a gun battle. Another clash between Hamas gunmen and Palestinian security forces left three more injured.
On Monday the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, will meet European, Russian and United Nations officials in London to coordinate a response. Some officials said funding would be withdrawn only from ministries under direct Hamas control, and could continue through other channels such as the UN. Hamas says it should be judged on its actions, not declarations, and notes that it has maintained a ceasefire for the past year.
The outgoing Palestinian economy minister, Mazen Sinokrot, said foreign donors should give the next government a chance to prove itself. ”The international community should maintain [its] support of the Palestinian people if we are really seeking a prosperous region, a stable region, and would like to see a viable [Palestinian] state,” he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. – Guardian Unlimited Â