US pledges aid but no help on detainees: •Abbas meets Bush •Sharon offers pullback
WASHINGTON/TEL AVIV, July 25: US President George Bush pledged on Friday to boost economic ties with the Palestinian Authority and said he would dispatch his Treasury and Commerce secretaries to the region to assess what US help was needed.
Addressing a joint press conference after his first meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, the US president also criticized Israel’s construction of a security fence, but at the same time said he would not ask Tel Aviv to release Palestinian prisoners who might launch new attacks.
“I think the wall is a problem and I’ve discussed that with (Israeli Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon,” Mr Bush said. “It is very difficult to develop confidence between the Palestinians and Israel with a wall snaking through the West Bank.”
And Israel, in an apparent bid to blunt the impact of the White House visit by Mr Abbas, pledged to pull back from two West Bank cities and remove several main roadblocks in the area.
Talking about living conditions in Palestinian territories, President Bush said: “We must improve the daily lives of ordinary Palestinians.” Mr Abbas had earlier appealed directly to the president to make a bigger financial commitment to the Palestinian Authority (PA). Mr Abbas did not specify a dollar amount.
In addition to increased aid, Mr Abbas wants the US Congress to end an existing prohibition on direct financial assistance to the PA. White House officials say they are considering asking lawmakers to do that.
With Mahmoud Abbas at his side, Mr Bush announced plans to create what he called a joint US-Palestine economic development group, which he said would look for “practical ways to bring jobs and growth and investment to the Palestinian economy”.
The US president said he would dispatch Treasury Secretary John Snow and Commerce Secretary Don Evans to the Middle East early this fall to assess the economic conditions. They will report back on “the steps we need to take to build a solid economic foundation for a free and sovereign Palestinian state”, he said.
Earlier this month the White House had announced 20 million dollars in direct aid for the Palestinian Authority.
Mr Bush provided the money without US congressional approval by using rarely used waiver authority for “unanticipated contingencies”.
“We are particularly grateful for the 20 million dollars of direct assistance to Palestinian Authority. And we hope that this assistance increases and is enshrined in legislation,” Mr Abbas told the president.
Although 20 million is relatively small in dollar terms, administration officials said it marked a milestone, both as the first direct aid from Washington to the Palestinian Authority and as a concrete show of support for Mahmoud Abbas, whose rise to power came at US urging.—Reuters
