Donors make pledges for Palestine
Reuters
By Francois Murphy and Arshad Mohammed Reuters - 1
hour 4 minutes ago
PARIS (Reuters) - France kicked off an international
donors conference to boost the Palestinian economy on
Monday, with delegations expected to offer some $5.6
billion (2.8 billion pounds) and give political
impetus to the renewed Middle East peace talks.
(Advertisement)
The one-day meeting is the financial sequel to the
launch last month in Annapolis of the first peace
negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians in
seven years.
"After years of violence, after years of mistrust,
Annapolis revived hope," French President Nicolas
Sarkozy said at the opening of the conference.
"Be generous, be audacious. Peace depends on it and
this peace will help all the world," he told delegates
from nearly 90 countries and organisations, including
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Middle
East envoy Tony Blair.
Sarkozy said France would offer $300 million to the
Palestinians, while the United States has promised
more than $550 million in aid.
The European Union executive pledged 440 million euros
(314 million pounds) of grant aid to the Palestinians.
While the meeting will focus on the Palestinian
economy, the visiting envoys are expected also to
discuss outstanding contentious issues.
As delegates gathered, Palestinian negotiators said
Israeli plans to build new homes on occupied land near
Jerusalem could cloud the next round of peace talks,
due to be held on December 23.
"We need a clear-cut Israeli decision concerning this
issue," said Palestinian spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah.
Sarkozy called for a freeze in the building of
settlements and the U.S. Secretary of State said the
dispute showed it was vital to reach a full deal and
appealed to both sides not to "consider every bump in
the road to be a barrier.
"There is an assumption here that there is not going
to be turbulence in this process. There is. I don't
care how much you talk to people before, I don't care
how much work you do. There will be turbulence," Rice
told reporters as she flew to Paris.
POLITICAL DIVISION
Donor nations have been poring over a reform programme
drawn up by the Palestinian Authority. However, the
World Bank said last week such plans would not be
enough to revive the economy if Israel did not lift
trade and travel restrictions.
Israel has so far balked at removing checkpoints
scattered across the occupied West Bank, citing
security concerns.
It has also tightened its military and economic cordon
around Gaza since Islamist Hamas seized control in
June, although on Sunday it allowed hundreds of
Palestinians to leave Gaza to make the annual haj
pilgrimage to Mecca.
The political division of the Palestinian territory
has further complicated the peace process, with the
West Bank controlled by Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas and Gaza ruled by Hamas.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner urged
ordinary Palestinians on Monday to turn their backs on
extremism and support Abbas.
"We need to show moderate Palestinians that democracy
is the only solution to live in peace," he told Europe
1 radio.
(Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Keith Weir)
* Email Story
* IM Story
* Printable View
* Blog This
French President Nicolas Sarkozy (C) welcomes U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (L) as
Palestinian... Enlarge Photo
French President Nicolas Sarkozy (C) welcomes U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (L) as
Palestinian...
Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! All rights reserved.
---------------
Jusfiq Hadjar gelar Sutan Maradjo Lelo
Allah yang disembah orang Islam tipikal dan yang digambarkan oleh al-Mushaf itu
dungu, buas, kejam, keji, ganas, zalim lagi biadab hanyalah Allah fiktif.
__________________________________________________________
Sent from Yahoo! Mail - a smarter inbox http://uk.mail.yahoo.com
Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
