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France proposes escrow account to pay Palestinians
 French President Jacques Chirac proposed Friday the creation of a special account at the World Bank to channel international aid funds to the Palestinians and head off an impending financial meltdown in the territories. The escrow account could be used to send payments directly to 160,000 Palestinian civil servants, thus bypassing the Hamas-led government being boycotted by the international community because of its opposition to peace with Israel. Chirac made the suggestion during talks in Paris with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is in France on the last leg of a European tour urging the resumption of aid. Accord to Chirac's spokesman, the president told Abbas "France would propose to its European and international partners ... that they reflect very rapidly on a mechanism to allow the resumption of aid."Posted by: Fred 2006-04-30 |
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