Norway freezes aid to Palestinian Authority

OSLO, Apr 9 (Reuters) Norway has frozen aid to the Palestinian Authority, officials said today, joining a growing list of countries halting assistance to pressure the new Hamas government to restart negotiations with Israel.

Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said that Norway wanted to help bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table ''so that we can achieve our goal and the international community's goal -- namely two states that can live side by side in peace.'' ''It is worrisome that we now see that both Israel and the Palestinian side are turning inward and disregarding the need to negotiate with one another,'' Stoere told Norwegian radio.

Stoere said that Norway did not aim to punish Palestinians for their choice of government but that it could not support an administration regardless of its policies.

Norway currently gives around 57 million dollars a year in aid to the Palestinian Authority.

The United States and the European Commission suspended aid to the new Hamas-led Palestinian government on Friday, pushing the Palestinian Authority closer to financial collapse.

REUTERS SY PM1818