Nearly billion dollars in direct aid disbursed to Palestinians in six months
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PARIS, July 8, 2008 (AFP) - The international community has paid out nearly
a billion dollars in direct aid to the Palestinians in six months, officials
of the International Donors' Conference for the Palestinian State said here
late Monday, while hitting out at Israeli restrictions on movement by
Palestinians.

The chair and the co-chairs of the Paris conference, which last December
came up with pledges of donations totalling 7.7 billion dollars over three
years, 'strongly welcomed' the process of disbursing the funds.

The international community has paid out more than 920 million dollars in
six months in direct budgetary support and signed for one billion dollars of
bilateral agreements with the Palestinian Authority for development
projects, according to a communique from the chair and co-chairs released by
the French foreign ministry.

'This unprecedented level and rapid disbursement of contributions
demonstrates the strong support of the international community to the
Palestinian government,' said the statement by Quartet special Middle East
envoy Tony Blair, European External Relations Commissioner Benita
Ferrero-Waldner and a Norwegian representative who met at the French foreign
ministry.

'The priority over the coming months will be to secure contributions of Arab
League members. These will be crucial to finance the budgetary gap and to
support the Palestinian institutions,' it went on.

The chair and co-chairs said it was 'essential that the Palestinian
government maintains a rigorous fiscal policy in relation with the future
disposable revenues and contributions.'

But 'restrictions by the Government of Israel on Palestinian movement and
access continue to weigh heavily on the economic outlook.

'Without a significant lifting of such barriers in the West Bank, and a
relaxation of the restrictions on humanitarian and commercial flows to the
Gaza Strip, there is a much-reduced prospect for private sector recovery,
public and private investment programmes will continue to be delayed, and
consequently any economic recovery will continue to be inhibited.'

The Paris conference was aimed at boosting still fragile hopes for peace
launched at the latest Palestinian-Israeli peace process in Annapolis,
Maryland in late November 2007, aimed at working for a Palestinian state by
the end of 2008.

abm/bm AFP 080231 GMT 07 08