Palestinian premier says Paris results beyond expectations

Dec 18, 2007, 15:33 GMT

Ramallah - Acting Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Tuesday in Ramallah that the results of the Paris donors' conference held Monday 'have exceeded our expectations.'

He said the large number of countries present and the support the Palestinians got 'was an important accomplishment on the road to end the Israeli occupation.'

The donors pledged 7.4 billion dollars in budget support and development aid to the Palestinian Authority over the next three years.

Fayyad praised as well a decision by the international Quartet on the Middle East, composed of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, in a meeting it held in Paris following the donors conference, which backed a Palestinian call for running the Gaza crossings and lifting the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip.

'This is a positive decision and it sets the ground for a process to end the siege of Gaza,' he said.

The Gaza Strip has been under Israeli siege since the Islamic movement Hamas overtook it by military force in June.

Fayyad said that without lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip and Israeli removal of checkpoints in the West Bank to allow more freedom of movement and access, international aid would not achieve its goal of reviving the Palestinian economy.

He said the next step after the Paris pledges will be to follow up on the disbursement of funds and to make sure that the money starts coming in to the single treasury account of the Palestinian Authority, which Fayyad runs in his capacity as finance minister.

Direct transfer of funds to this account, said Fayyad, has already started in with a Norwegian aid of 30 million dollars and another 15 million dollars in French aid three months ago, in addition to a new French pledge of 25 million euros (36 million dollars) expected to arrive early January.

Fayyad had previously warned that without the international aid, the Palestinian Authority would not be able to continue to function as it approached bankruptcy.

The Palestinian premier also condemned the latest Israeli military attacks on the Gaza Strip that left nine Palestinians dead. He called for international intervention and protection to put an end to the Israeli raids.