Palestinians eye $1 bln fund to rebuild Gaza: Abbas adviser

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GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — The Palestinians are to create a $1 billion fund to invest in the reconstruction of the war-torn Gaza Strip, the economic adviser to president Mahmud Abbas has told AFP.

"In the coming weeks, we will approach private sector businessmen to create a $1 billion fund to invest in the Gaza Strip," said Mohammad Mustafa, chairman and chief executive of the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF), who is tipped as a favourite to become the next Palestinian prime minister.

"We will invest $200 million in this fund, and will work on attracting Palestinian, Arab and international investors for the rest," said Mustafa who was on his first visit to Gaza since it was taken over by the Islamist Hamas movement four years ago.

The visit by a delegation of top businessmen and politicians from the West Bank came just three weeks after Abbas's Fatah movement, which controls the Palestinian Authority, signed a surprise unity deal with Gaza's Hamas rulers, ending years of bitter rivalry.

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