The Arab League has denied it is unable to transfer aid to Palestinians, saying that the issue is still under discussion. An official from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Liberation Organisation said on Thursday the Arab League head said the pan-Arab body could not transfer an estimated $US70 million to 165,000 Palestinian Authority employees' accounts. "I did not contact the Palestinian President at all and I have not spoken to him since we met in Paris 10 days ago and discussed the best way to send this," Arab League secretary-general Amr Moussa said.
An Arab League official says the body has not abandoned efforts to send the money it has collected to Palestinians. Hamas, considered a terrorist organisation by the United States, is hoping the League can sidestep US restrictions by depositing the money directly into the employees' accounts. Under US law, any foreign bank that refuses to cooperate with the United States in cutting off funding to Hamas risks having its US assets frozen and its access to US financial markets denied. |