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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) with French President Jacques Chirac
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French President Jacques Chirac has called for European funding to the Palestinian Authority to be resumed with a new money transfer system through the World Bank.
Palestinian leaders have welcomed the move but warned against the risk of creating a “parallel cabinet.”
After receiving Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, French President Jacques Chirac called for the creation of a new money transfer mechanism through the World Bank. Chirac’s proposal would enable the resumption of European financial support to the Palestinians while avoiding official contact with the Hamas government.
“The financial aid to Palestinians has to be maintained for human and political reasons,” Jacques Chirac told the press. The Elysee Palace later announced that the French president would back the idea of a new fund, managed by the World Bank, which would provide salaries for 160,000 civil servants, which include the members of the armed forces. Chirac is to recommend the initiative when meeting with members of the Quartet on 9 May.
Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the initiative but considered that "the mechanism had to be set up quickly and not in a matter of months considering the situation in the Palestinian territories."
The Hamas government said “it has no problem with the creation of this new fund” but that “the payment of salaries has to be done in coordination with the government. We do not want the creation of a parallel cabinet,” said government spokesman Ghazi Hamad.
Mahmoud Abbas also rejected the idea of a parallel cabinet.
Regarding the conflict between the Palestinian president and Hamas over the new armed forces created by the government, Abbas said “there is a misunderstanding over this issue. There is no new force but certain existing armed elements have been integrated into the existing forces.”
| EU official meets Abbas in Paris |
| EU’s foreign policty chief, Javier Solana, has assured Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the European Union’s continued support and its unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian people, during a meeting with the Palestinian president Friday in Paris. During a working lunch, also attended by French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, discussed with Abbas the conditions under which the European Union could continue to provide assistance to the Palestinians and their institutions and the possible mechanisms for channelling financial assistance. Solana reiterated that the EU remains committed to supporting a negotiated peace to the Middle-East conflict, based on a “two-state solution” respecting the principles of non-violence, recognition of Israel's right to exist and acceptance of existing agreements. |
In the last few weeks the French government has issued several declarations announcing its intentions to renew European financial aids to PA. At the same time it refused entry to Hamas members who were invited by pro-Palestinian organisations, the Council of Europe and the Arab World Institute in Paris.
Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa met with Jacques Chirac on Wednesday and asked the European Union to resume its financial support to the PA. “Jacques Chirac understands the situation,” Moussa told journalists on Thursday. “Starving the Palestinians is not part of his plans.”
Paris hosted a European-Arab conference that ended on Friday in the Arab World Institute (INA). Both Amr Moussa and Abbas participated in the summit which brought together diplomats, businessmen and NGOs.