Palestinian donor meet opens, seeks aid top up

Stockholm, Sep 1: Sweden opened a conference today which seeks to top up aid to the Palestinian Territories, a day after pledges to Lebanon came in at almost double expectations at 940 million dollars.

Sweden, Spain and Norway are co-hosting the smaller Palestinian mee ting, which aims to help meet a revised United Nations appeal for further funding of 170 million dollars, which was on top of an original request for 215 million dollars.

''We have yet to reach the goal set by the United Nations' humanitarian appeal,'' Swedish Foreign Minister Jan Eliasson told the start of the conference.

''After months of violence in Gaza and the West Bank, and wide-spread anxiety among the civilian population, it is imperative that the Palestinian people (are) now given the opportunity to experience a sense of normalcy,'' he added.

He said Sweden would top up its aid to the Palestinian Territories by 14 million dollars.

The Hamas-led Palestinian government elected early this year was hit by a Western aid boycott over its refusal to recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept past peace agreements. The boycott left it on the brink of financial collapse and many state workers unpaid.

Some donations have come from the Arab world. A European Union programme aims to by-pass the Hamas-led government to pay aid directly to Palestinians.

The Friday meeting is a follow-up to a similar gathering held in Geneva on July, 14 2006, Sweden has said.

The meeting is being held in close consultation with the United Nations and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The 940 million dollars pledged by donors yesterday for Lebanon was well above the original amount of 500 million dollars which Sweden said the conference hoped to raise.

The Lebanon funds are to go to short-term relief needs such as pre-fabricated homes and clearing thousands of unexploded bombs, including cluster bombs.

Reuters

Related Stories