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View Full Version : Chirac "Hostile" to Sanctions on Palestinians



sonz
03-06-2006, 08:20 PM
RIYADH, March 6, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – French President Jacques Chirac said Monday, March 6, he was "hostile" to slapping international sanctions on the Palestinian Authority after Hamas's landslide election victory.

"I know well that there some who envisage sanctions. For my part, I am hostile to sanctions in general and in this case in particular... basically the Palestinian people would bear the brunt of it," he told a news conference in Saudi Arabia, reported Reuters.

Hamas has swept the Palestinian legislative elections, winning 74 of the 132-seat legislature, against 45 for Fatah.

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU's head of external relations, said on Monday, March 6, that the 25-nation bloc would stop payments to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority once Hamas takes power.

The US and the EU have threatened to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority unless the resistance group disarms, "renounces violence" and recognizes Israel.

Israel has frozen the monthly transfers of tax revenues it collects on behalf of the PA, worth around $50 million.

Former US president Jimmy Carter has cautioned the United States and Israel against punishing the Palestinian people for electing Hamas.

On Monday, February 27, international envoy James Wolfensohn has recently warned that the PA risks a financial collapse within two weeks.

The PA is dependent on foreign aid and on tax revenues collected by Israel on its behalf to pay its 140,000 employees and keep its ministries and institutions functioning.

Not Worried

Meshaal said Hamas was not worried by Western threats to cut funding to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority. (Reuters)

Chirac did not explain how France would stop funding the PA but maintain aid to the Palestinians.

"I hope the discussions with Hamas that some parties have begun can lead to this positive result. To be honest, I don't doubt it will, since Hamas has to assume its responsibilities," said the French leader, currently on a three-day state visit to the kingdom.

France is often seen by many Arabs as supporting Arab causes, as opposed to the US which is always accused of biased towards Israel.

Hamas reiterated it was not worried by Western threats to cut funding to the PA.

"Unfortunately all the parties trying to impose conditions on us want to swap the rights of our people for money and this will not happen," Khaled Meshaal, the group's politburo leader, said Tuesday.

He said the group was confident of getting the needed funds from Arab and Islamic countries.

A Hamas delegation last week visited Russia, the group's first trip to a major foreign power, in the hope of gaining some international standing.

The Arab League vowed on Saturday, March 4, support for Hamas, blasting "unjust conditions" on the Palestinians.

During a recent Mideast trip, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice failed to mobilize support for isolating the Hamas-led government and deny aid and support to the PA.

Khalil Abu Lila, a senior Hamas leader, told IslamOnline.net on Saturday, February 25, the group has received generous aid pledges at the grassroots and state levels in the Muslim world, double the aid which the US, the EU and others are threatening to cut off.
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