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PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. (AP file photo)
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| By Associated Press May 21, 2005 |
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Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday he will demand that President George W. Bush provide the Palestinians with strong political and financial support.
Abbas' White House meeting with Bush on Thursday could give the Palestinian leader a much-needed boost just as he is about to go head-to-head with his top rival -- Hamas -- in a parliamentary election, and prepares for the difficult task of taking over Gaza Strip areas Israel is to evacuate this summer.
Abbas heads to Washington as a three-day round of violence in Gaza died down. Abbas said the recent violence, which threatened a truce with Israel, would not overshadow his talks in Washington.
"We are going to demand two basic things: the first is political support and the second is economic support," Abbas said in Ramallah after arriving home from a two-week tour of South America and Asia.
Congress recently approved a US$275 million financial aid package for the Palestinians to help bolster their ailing economy and rehabilitate their security forces. Congress is also expected to consider an additional US$160 million in aid next year, said USAID spokeswoman Sylvana Foa.
Speaking after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Abbas dismissed concerns that the recent flare-up of violence in Gaza would have a negative impact on his talks with Bush.
"The events are minor and they have calmed down," Abbas said at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, the last stop of is tour. "I think that the situation has begun to come under control in Gaza."
The violence erupted after weeks of relative calm in the volatile Gaza Strip. Since Wednesday, three Palestinian militants have been killed. Militants have fired dozens of homemade rockets and mortar shells at Jewish settlements.
Israeli security officials speculated the latest round of violence was an attempt by Hamas to embarrass Abbas. The Palestinian interior minister said Saturday that Hamas has agreed to stop firing rockets at Gaza's settlements and reaffirmed their commitment to the shaky Israeli-Palestinian.
However, on Saturday evening, a Hamas spokesman warned that the group could walk away from the truce, declared by the militants in Cairo, over an election dispute in Gaza. Earlier this month, Hamas made a strong showing in local elections in dozens of towns in the West Bank and Gaza, winning about one-third of the races, including key contests.
Acting on a Fatah appeal, a Gaza court ordered a partial revote in three of the biggest communities, prompting Hamas allegations that Fatah is trying to manipulate the election. In a rally Saturday evening, Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri told some 5,000 supporters that Hamas might abandon the truce if the dispute is not settled.
"If this comedy continues," he said, referring to the ruling, "the understandings reached in the latest dialogue in Cairo will go to the wind."
Abbas, meanwhile, said he will demand that Bush declare a "frank American position on implementing the road map after the Gaza withdrawal" this summer.
Both Israel and the Palestinians have failed to fulfill their obligations under the U.S.-backed road map peace plan which calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The U.S. and the Palestinians hope Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from all Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements this summer will jump-start long-stalled peace talks.
Sharon has said he will not negotiate with the Palestinians unless they disarm militant groups, a step Abbas has so far refused to take despite his commitments under the road map. The Palestinians on the other hand fear Israel will use the Gaza pullout as a means for holding onto chunks of the West Bank.
Abbas is also expected to ask Bush to intensify U.S. pressure on Israel to freeze West Bank settlement expansion, a key Israeli obligation under the road map.
The Palestinians are especially concerned about an Israeli plan to build 3,650 housing units in the settlement of Maaleh Adumim -- the largest Jewish community in the West Bank. Despite public U.S. criticism of the building plan, Sharon has said he will go ahead with construction.
The housing units would connect between Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem, effectively cutting West Bank Palestinians off from east Jerusalem, home to some 200,000 Palestinians and a hub of commercial activity. The construction plan would also destroy Palestinian dreams of making east Jerusalem the capital of their future state.
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