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Rice rules out aid to Hamas government
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-30 08:41
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday ruled out any American
financial aid to a Hamas government in the Palestinian territories and said
Washington wants Arab nations and others to cut off money as well.
A Palestinian boy
laughing from his house balcony which is decorated with grafitti which
reads in Arabic 'Hamas' and a poster showing the late Hamas leader and
founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin, in al-Amari refugee camp near the West Bank
town of Ramallah, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2006. Israel stepped up its tough talk
against Hamas on Sunday, ruling out contacts with a Palestinian government
led by the militant group and threatening to 'liquidate' militants if
attacks on Israeli targets resume. [AP] |
Humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, many of whom are poor and unemployed,
is likely on a "case-by-case basis," Rice said. She indicated that the Bush
administration would follow through on aid promised to the current, U.S.-backed
Palestinian government led by President Mahmoud Abbas.
"The United States is not prepared to fund an organization that advocates the
destruction of Israel, that advocates violence and that refuses its
obligations," under an international framework for eventual Mideast peace, Rice
said.
Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, won a decisive majority in last
week's Palestinian legislative elections. The group, which has political and
militant wings, will now take a large role in governing the Palestinians. The
makeup of the new government is not clear.
The Islamic militants, who carried out dozens of suicide bombings and seek
Israel's destruction, have said they oppose peace talks and will not disarm.
Israel refuses to deal with Hamas.
Hamas' unexpected electoral victory raised questions about the future of the
peace process between the Palestinians and Israel, and how the United States can
influence such efforts or help impoverished Palestinians.
"We're going to review all of our assistance programs, but the bedrock
principle here is we can't have funding for an organization that holds those
views just because it is in government," Rice said.
The top U.S. diplomat spoke to reporters as she flew to London for a Mideast
strategy session with European and Russian leaders and U.N. Secretary-General
Kofi Annan.
Rice also will meet separately with other permanent members of the U.N.
Security Council to discuss Iran and an upcoming vote on whether to refer the
Tehran government to the council over its nuclear program.
Rice was more definitive than President Bush and other administration
officials have been about the future of U.S. aid now that Palestinians have
voted in Hamas.
The U.S., Europe and Israel list Hamas as a terrorist organization; various
Arab governments have contact with the group.
"It is important that Hamas now will have to confront the implications of its
covenant if it wishes to govern," Rice said. "That becomes a primary
consideration in anything that we do."
It is not clear that all European nations or the United Nations would cut off
aid, let alone Arab governments that do not recognize Israel.
"I just think that anyone who is devoted to trying to bring Middle East peace
between two states has an obligation now to make sure that anybody that is going
to be supported is going to have that same" goal, Rice said.
Some in Israel and in the administration would like to isolate and impoverish
the new Hamas leadership in hopes of either forcing the group to moderate its
policies or hastening disillusionment with the incoming government among
Palestinians.
U.S. aid is a small part of the $1.6 billion annual budget of the Palestinian
Authority.
About $1 billion comes from overseas donors — more than half of that from
European nations. The rest is a mix of funds from international donor agencies,
Arab and Asian governments, and the U.S., which gave $70 million in direct aid
to the Palestinian Authority last year.
Separately, the U.S. spent $225 million for humanitarian projects through the
U.S. Agency for International Development last year, and gave $88 million for
refugee assistance.
In the past, USAID money has gone for such projects as sprucing up the
Ramallah auditorium where Palestinian leaders hold press conferences.
Rice suggested that only the most pressing needs would be considered now.
Earlier Sunday, with Hamas' victory discussed on the U.S. talk shows, a
Republican senator said cutting U.S. aid to the Hamas-run government could push
the Palestinians closer to Iran and create further chaos in the Middle East.
Yet governing changes in the region could allow diplomatic efforts by the
Bush administration to move "in some quiet ways," said Sen. Chuck Hagel (news,
bio, voting record), a top member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"I think we're moving in the right direction, working with our allies,
working with the United Nations, finding ways, with Hamas, to see where they're
going to go here in the next few weeks, to see if there's something that we
could do to influence that direction," said Hagel, R-Neb.
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