Posted on 07/05/2006 5:44:27 AM PDT by Esther Ruth
US$100 million transferred to Abbas
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 4, 2006
The Arab League and Saudi Arabia have transferred some US$ 100 million (euro 78 million) to the Palestinians, the first funding since international aid was cut off after Hamas militant won legislative elections, a top Palestinian official and the Arab League said Tuesday.
Nabil Shaath, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the Arab aid money bypassed the Hamas government and was transferred directly to Abbas on Monday.
The Palestinian president will control how the funds are spent, he said.
The EU, the US and other donors froze hundreds of millions of dollars (euros) in direct aid to the Palestinian government after Hamas won elections in January, demanding that the group recognize Israel and cease all support of terrorism.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa in Cairo, Shaath said the Arab League had transferred half of the US $100 million (euro 78 million), while Saudi Arabia directly transferred the other half.
"This is a glimpse of hope ... and a step toward squeezing-out of the siege," said Shaath. Moussa said the Hamas-led government had had knowledge of the transfer. "The transfer was in complete coordination with the Palestinian government," he said.
Since March, Arab states have collected more than US $100 in aid for the Palestinians, but the money could not be transferred because international banks refused to allow the Arab League to transfer funds electronically to Palestinian territories, fearing sanctions from the US, which labels Hamas a terror group.
Shaath and Moussa did not specify how the funds were transferred to the Palestinian Authority on Monday, or where the money had come from.
The Hamas government, nearly bankrupted by the international sanctions, has resorted to bringing cash in suitcases to help keep it afloat.
Twice last month, globe-trotting Palestinian cabinet ministers returned to the impoverished Gaza Strip at the border crossing with Egypt with millions of dollars stuffed in their luggage.
The ministers did not specify who had donated the cash.
"Money can be transferred if it is going to the President and if it is under his supervision," his deputy Mohammed Sobeih told The Associated Press.
Shaath did not specify on Tuesday how Abbas will disburse the money received from the Arab League and Saudi Arabia.
All the money in the world cannot buy class.
Slightly misleading headline - the money is only MEASURED in U.S. Dollars. The U.S. did not give the money.
A hundred bucks, eh?
The U.S. gave the $100 mil to Abbas with oil purchases, albeit indirectly.
Fixed it.
Connect the dots...
SA gives Abbas(not Hamas)$$$...
Abbas in negotiations with Tehran...
Tehran playing patty-cake with NK firecrackers right now...
SA $$$ goes to NK for firecrackers. Firecrackers endup in hands of Abbas?
Not in this news report, they didn't.
More like FREAKING misleading to my mind.
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST
The Swiss aren't fussy.
Actually, the swiss have lost their #1 ranking of money laundering banking.
Dubai and Malaysia are now moving ahead of them. When Switzerland was to join the EU, the EU forced them to change their banking laws to be more transperant and really hosed them.
Dubai is now becoming the #1 place to stash your embezzeled, drug, stolen, cash, etc....
The Dubai real estate market is a major money laundering scheme.
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