Hamas govt takes over amid Western isolation
Reuters, Gaza City
Hamas ministers began work yesterday after the Palestinian militant group's government took office, battling Western isolation and a crippling cash crunch. One of the first challenges for Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and his cabinet, sworn in on Wednesday, will be paying March salaries for 140,000 Palestinian Authority staff that fall due within days. Israel, where interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is building a coalition after his Kadima party won elections this week but took less than a quarter of seats in parliament, has already cut monthly tax transfers of $50-$55 million. On Wednesday, the United States ordered its diplomats and contractors to have no contacts with Palestinian ministries and Canada suspended aid to the Palestinian Authority. Hamas took over the Palestinian government after winning January elections. "We are surprised democratic regimes adopt the method of boycott and punishment without even sitting down with this new government," Minister of Information Youssef Rizka told Reuters. "This government has true intentions and the determination to face the big challenges especially on the economic front." The Hamas Islamists are committed to Israel's destruction and have rebuffed demands from the "Quartet" of Middle East peace mediators to recognise the Jewish state, renounce violence and abide by peace accords or risk losing vital aid. The Quartet -- the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations -- has yet to agree on mechanisms to ensure humanitarian assistance bypasses Hamas but continues to flow to the Palestinian people. February salaries to 140,000 Palestinian Authority workers, including security personnel, were paid weeks overdue. Asked if wages would be paid on time, normally in the first week of each month, Haniyeh said the Authority was seeking funds from Arab and Islamic countries as well as the European Union. The Palestinian Authority relies on some $1 billion in foreign aid each year. Aid groups say a funding crisis could lead to violence in Palestinian areas, where as many as one in four people is dependent on wages from the Authority. The government said it would also try to access a Palestinian investment fund worth some $1.3 billion and which is controlled by the office of President Mahmoud Abbas.
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