Hamas Asks Summit for Palestinian Aid
By DIANA ELIAS
The Associated Press
Sunday, March 26, 2006; 10:23 PM
KUWAIT CITY -- Hamas pressed Arab leaders gathering for a summit in Sudan to triple their financial support to Palestinians and provide it fast, saying Sunday its government will need around $170 million a month, mostly for salaries.
The amount, three times the $55 million pledged in previous summits, "of course is a big sum," said Khaled Mashaal, political chief of Hamas, said at the end of a three-day visit to this small oil-rich state.
Political chief of Hamas Khaled Mishaal talks to journalists during a press conference at Kuwait International Airport on Sunday, March 26, 2006, during a visit by a Hamas delegation to Kuwait. (AP Photo/Gustavo Ferrari) (Gustavo Ferrari - AP)
"We hope that our Arab brothers would provide this support and provide it quickly because unfortunately there has been a shortage and lack of commitment," he said.
Arab League leaders, already in the Sudanese capital Khartoum for the summit this week, promised in a draft resolution Sunday to continue funding the Palestinian Authority despite U.S. calls for a halt of financial aid to a government led by the radical Hamas group.
But the league has ignored calls by Hamas to increase aid dramatically, maintaining its promise of $55 million a month, with each country assigned an amount.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/26/AR2006032601154.html