BRITAIN: GIVE HAMAS MONEY

Britain backs Palestinian trust fund.

A PROPOSED trust fund for donors to pay overdue Palestinian salaries would undercut Hamas, not strengthen it, says a British document meant to increase pressure on the US to drop objections to the plan. Britain circulated the memo on the proposal, aimed at averting a collapse of basic services provided by the Palestinian Authority, to major donors before tomorrow’s meeting of the Quartet of Middle East mediators. The four-page document argues, in response to US efforts to block creation of such a fund, that it “will not undermine the diplomatic effort” to persuade Hamas to renounce violence, recognise Israel and abide by interim peace accords. The US is concerned that allowing the international community to pay Palestinians’ salaries would take pressure off Hamas, Western diplomats said. But Britain argues that if Palestinians end up receiving crucial aid through channels other than Hamas, the Islamic militant group stands to lose “a big part of its street credibility and hence have an incentive to come closer to what the international community wants”.