Friday, March 31, 2006

Hamas Already Facing a Financial Crisis


Hamas Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh is greeted by staff as he arrives at the Prime Minister's office in Gaza City Thursday March 30, 2006. Hamas' new Cabinet ministers started moving into their offices on Thursday as Western nations began following through on their threats to cut off aid to the Palestinian government if the militant group does not moderate. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
 Posted by Picasa

March 30,2006

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- The Hamas-led government faced a financial crisis on its first day in office Thursday, as Western nations threatened to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority if the militant group does not soften its stance on Israel.

Hamas leaders said the aid cuts violate the Palestinians' democratic rights, but Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared: "The principle is very clear. We're not going to fund a Hamas-led government."

Hamas has rejected Western demands to renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians. The United States and European Union list Hamas as a terror group, as does Israel.

The Palestinian Authority gets a large part of its $1.9 billion annual budget from overseas sources, and may run into difficulties next week when March salaries are due to be paid to some 140,000 government employees.


Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said the aid cuts hurt the Palestinian people.

"We were hoping that some countries would respect the rules of the democratic game and that they would have had different positions and not act this way," he said.

And Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar hinted that any country that shuns Hamas will be considered "an enemy of the Palestinian people." He said Foreign Ministry employees would not be allowed to talk to them.

Rice said the United States was reviewing its Palestinian aid programs to see which ones it would freeze, emphasizing that the U.S. will not "provide funding to a Hamas-led government." Read more...

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home