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Arab states to aid Palestinians
SAUDI Arabia and other Arab states are expected to send money to the Palestinian Authority within days to help it pay its employees after Israel stopped handing over tax payments.Caretaker prime minister Ahmed Qurie said the cash-strapped governing authority was forced to turn to its "Arab brothers" to cushion the economic blow of Israel's decision. But Mr Qurie and other Palestinian officials still held out hope that the Jewish state, under United States pressure, would agree to transfer the money it owed. Palestinian customs revenue collected by Israel is the main source of funding for the Palestinian Authority's budget, and is used to pay 140,000 government workers. Israel froze automatic payments yesterday, a week after the Palestinian election victory of the Islamic militant group Hamas. It had been due to transfer nearly $US55 million ($73 million). Posted by: tipper 2006-02-02 |
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