December 4, 2003	Thursday	Shawwal 9, 1424

NAPLES, Dec 3: Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom will participate in a Palestinian donors’ conference in Rome next week, in an unusual move to help ordinary Palestinians, an Israeli official said on Wednesday.

The conference, on Dec 10 and 11, will bring together European and Arab states and financial institutions in a similar format to that of the Madrid donors’ conference for Iraq in October, Italian government sources said.

Italy holds the rotating EU presidency until the end of the year.

An Israeli official in Italy said the foreign minister’s decision to attend the donors’ conference was very unusual and he wanted to send a message that aiding the Palestinians was important.

“The ultimate goal is to relieve the situation of Palestinians on the ground. He hopes that by participating in the conference he will help obtain strong commitments and achieve better results,” the official said.

After three years of the uprising for statehood, the Palestinian economy is in steep decline, the World Bank said on Tuesday.

Israeli closures, checkpoints and sieges on Palestinian territories have paralysed trade and investment. —Reuters