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Abbas and Blair at the London Conference (AP)
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| By Associated Press March 2, 2005 |
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Emerging from an international conference on Palestinian restructuring, Finance Minister Salam Fayyad said donor nations had promised the Palestinian Authority $1.2 billion, providing the new government of Mahmoud Abbas much-needed breathing space as the Palestinians try to recover from four years of Mideast violence.
Fayyad told The Associated Press that much of the money would go to funding the operating costs of the Palestinian Authority, whose monthly budgetary shortfall of some $40 million had thrown into question its ability to pay the tens of thousands of members of the security services whose role in coming months will be crucial.
Part apparently will go to paying for pensions for retiring some members of those security forces, which Abbas promised Tuesday to reform and streamline -- reducing their number from a dozen to perhaps three, and putting them under the control of a single Cabinet minister.
The one-day event, hosted by Britain, brought together an array of international figures -- from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to senior Arab and European figures -- and sought to capitalize on a dramatic change in atmosphere since the November death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Abbas' election in January.
Although the gathering was not billed by organizers as a "pledging conference," the Palestinians made clear that they were expecting concrete assistance to help relieve their dire economic situation -- and promises that if they delivered the reforms, and security, Israel would then be expected to resume serious peace talks.
"We came to the conference wanting a lift and I think we got it," Fayyad said. "We are very satisfied with the results ... We hoped to get political and economic support from the international community, and thank God, we got it."
In recent years, the Palestinians have relied on foreign assistance for more than half the roughly US$1.7 billion budget. The World Bank estimates that the world community had given the Palestinians about US$1 billion annually since fighting broke out with Israel in 2000 -- about twice the amount of aid in the 1990s.
Fayyad said that as a result of the conference, the Palestinians can now rely on at least US$1.2 billion -- and more was on the way.
He said the sum included $391 million from the United States, a figure that is about quadruple the previous level of U.S. aid -- reflecting strong support for Abbas by the United States, which like Israel had boycotted Arafat. That figure could not be immediately confirmed.
Most of the rest of the sum would be coming from European nations, Fayyad said. He added that Arab nations would be approached for more aid at another conference in coming weeks, and that he was optimistic that in all the Palestinians could raise an additional $500 million.
Fayyad said that beyond the budgetary relief, some donors "will be sending missions in the course of the next two weeks to the field to identify projects and possible use of funds."
Much depended on whether Abbas succeeded at the conference in allaying concerns about the Palestinian Authority's accountability.
Nigel Roberts, the top World Bank representative in the West Bank and Gaza, warned Monday that both sides of the conflict would need to take concrete steps to use any new money wisely -- the Palestinian Authority with security and governmental reforms, and Israel by easing security measures to enable the Palestinian economy to function.
"If you pledge (money) now and let it go in without essentially holding either party accountable, you are wasting your money," he told The AP. "We are 10 years into this process; we have spent a lot of money here.... Let's get it right this time."
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