US President George W. Bush pledged 50 million US dollar (295 mio. DKR) in aid for the Palestinians on Thursday and gave an unusually tough message to Israel to halt settlement expansion and other steps that could block a final peace deal, reports the World Bank press review Friday.
Bushs announcement of US direct aid for Gaza Strip projects was a sign of confidence in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has sought money to be channeled directly to the Palestinian Authority instead of through third parties.
US officials said the 50 million will go into a special account the Palestinian Finance Ministry can access with agreement from the United States for housing, roads, schools and health clinics. It will come from previously budgeted, but unspent, money.
A senior Bush administration official said if a year from now “we can show that the money is … accounted for and being used properly for construction projects,” then the US Congress might approve more.
The Palestinian delegation came out of their first summit with Bush – who had refused to deal with Yassir Arafat, the late Palestinian leader – clearly delighted the US was committed to not allowing Israel to freeze the peace process after the Gaza pullout scheduled for August.
The Israeli withdrawal presented a “fantastic opportunity” to move the “road map” peace process forward, Bush said, expressing US support for final status talks.
Abbas seemed to win a vote of confidence from the US president, who puts great store in personal chemistry. Bush described Abbas as a “man of courage”, saying he had great faith in his personal character and his platform of peace.
Bush ran down a list of obligations for Israel, including efforts to improve the lives of Palestinians in occupied territories and avoidance of any moves that would compromise future talks.
He said Israel “must remove unauthorized outposts and stop settlement expansion” and insisted the controversial barrier being erected to stem anti-Israeli attacks “must be a security rather than political barrier.”
He said that as the “roadmap” process progresses, Israeli forces should withdraw to positions held on September 28, 2000, at the start of the outbreak of violence.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
