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| By: Associated Press |
| Published: March 15, 2006 |
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The European Union condemned widespread violence in the West Bank, but said neither the attacks on EU offices in Gaza City nor the kidnapping of at least 10 foreigners would affect urgent aid granted to Palestinians last month before a Hamas-led government takes office.
The EU agreed to grant a US$143-million emergency package to the Palestinian Authority that will pay its bills for two months. But it remained undecided Tuesday on future payments to the Palestinians.
"The 120 million are there ... We want to meet the challenges of the Palestinian people," said EU External relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner after meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
Abbas met Tuesday with EU officials in Strasbourg and in Vienna, Austria, but the talks were overshadowed by violence that broke out after Israeli troops used tanks, helicopters and bulldozers to pound a Jericho prison, forcing the surrender of a Palestinian militant leader and his accomplices in the assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister.
Angry Palestinians blamed the British and Americans, because British monitors left the jail just before the raid - and Palestinian gunmen retaliated by kidnapping at least 10 foreigners, including an American teacher. It was the most widespread violence since Hamas militants swept parliamentary elections, and it forced Abbas to cut short his trip and return home.
In Vienna, Abbas met with Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel and other Austrian leaders. He urged the EU not to stop its aid, suggesting that doing so would be interpreted as punishment for voters who chose Hamas - considered by the EU to be a terrorist group. Abbas said he would continue to push the new Palestinian government to adhere to previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements and reject violence - efforts that so far have failed to produce any concrete result.
In Strasbourg, Ferrero-Waldner said the EU would "leave the door open" to the possibility of continued financing to the Palestinian Authority, but reiterated that any long-term EU aid would depend on how the Hamas-led government would act. She urged Abbas to put pressure on Hamas to "seek peace by peaceful means."
"He is making every effort to achieve this, but we are not yet there. But we think the president has another two weeks to continue the negotiations," she said.
Earlier, a senior European Parliament member said he believed the EU may be able to continue with direct aid to the Palestinians even after Hamas forms a government.
Hans-Gert Poettering, chairman of the conservative European People's Party, the biggest group in the EU assembly, said any future EU aid would be conditional on Hamas' changing its course and recognizing the right of Israel to exist.
"We are not entirely pessimistic. ... Opinion polls show that of Hamas voters only a minority supports the (radical) position," Poettering said. "The majority voted for Hamas because they were disenchanted with corruption and the Fatah Party, defeated in this year's elections."
"We'd like to give them a chance. It must be clear to them that, long term, this support is only possible if they recognize Israel," he said.
Poettering said aid would be channeled to President Mahmoud Abbas and go directly to certain projects so that it did not fall into the hands of terrorists. He said it was too early to speculate whether aid would continue for a "few weeks or a few months," saying it would depend on how the new government behaved.
With Hamas expected to form a government later this month, the EU is grappling with the dilemma of how to keep providing funding to ease the plight of the Palestinian people while ensuring that none of its aid ends up with Hamas, a group committed to the destruction of Israel. The United States has already ruled out money for a Hamas-led government. |
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