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Palestinians to seek $4 billion at Oslo aid talks
Ha'aretz ^ | December 07 2004 | Reuters

Posted on 12/07/2004 11:16:46 AM PST by knighthawk

The Palestinian Authority will ask donor countries at a meeting in Oslo for about $4 billion over three years to stave off an economic crisis, Palestinian officials in Ramallah said yesterday. The two-day conference opens tomorrow.

They said the Palestinian Authority would seek the money to finance infrastructure projects including air and sea ports, to help with the 2005 budget and to create jobs.

"We need $1.3 to $1.4 billion a year," Economy Minister Maher al-Masri said. "We will present our plan to the donor countries and then discussions will start. They will decide how to respond to our plan in a separate meeting in January."

UN Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen has said the PA needs $650 million in foreign aid by June. The Oslo conference of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, which coordinates aid to the Palestinians, could raise some of it.

International aid to the PA has fallen sharply because donors could not see how their money was being spent, Palestinian officials and Western diplomats said. But the Palestinians are making progress on reforms, diplomats said.

Palestinian officials said they hoped European Union members, the United States and Japan would give $1 billion for the construction of infrastructure such as a Gaza sea port and airport, new industrial zones and other development projects.

Their plan also earmarked $325 million for budgeted salary payments and $510 million for loans to help the private sector. Part of the money would be allocated to job creation.

The World Bank has said nearly half of the 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza live in poverty on less than $2 a day, and up to 600,000 cannot afford basic necessities. It said international donations averaging $950 million a year from 2001 to 2003 had warded off economic disaster, but that "donor fatigue" loomed as unrest persisted, although the level of violence had fallen.


TOPICS: Israel; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aid; norway; oslo; palestinians
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1 posted on 12/07/2004 11:16:47 AM PST by knighthawk
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To: MizSterious; rebdov; Nix 2; green lantern; BeOSUser; Brad's Gramma; dreadme; Turk2; keri; ...

Ping


2 posted on 12/07/2004 11:17:09 AM PST by knighthawk (We will always remember We will always be proud We will always be prepared so we may always be free)
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To: knighthawk

Why don't they hit up Mrs Arafat for a loan first?


3 posted on 12/07/2004 11:17:56 AM PST by Semper Paratus
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And who will pocket this money now that Arafish is a rotting corpse?


4 posted on 12/07/2004 11:18:15 AM PST by oolatec
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To: knighthawk

As a taxpayer, I have "Donor's Fatigue."

Spend the Arafat billions FIRST.


5 posted on 12/07/2004 11:20:14 AM PST by Judith Anne (Thank you St. Jude for favors granted.)
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To: knighthawk

They should receive at least half of the Arafat fortune before another penny of American tax dollars . . . wait a minute - how about no more American tax dollars for them?


6 posted on 12/07/2004 11:20:30 AM PST by AD from SpringBay (We have the government we allow and deserve.)
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To: knighthawk
Can the U.S. Go to Oslo also and request a few hundred $billion?

This money fairy is such a cool idea!
I din't know all it took was to ask for it!

Wait. Do I have to manufacture suicide belts to qualify?

7 posted on 12/07/2004 11:22:50 AM PST by Publius6961 (The most abundant things in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.)
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To: knighthawk
$4billion! WOW!
They can blow up a lot of babies with nailbombs for that kind of money.
Arafart's widow can move into a bigger place too.
8 posted on 12/07/2004 11:23:34 AM PST by Bon mots
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To: knighthawk
This is really shocking considering the fact the Palestinians have such a vibrate economy the envy of the world.
9 posted on 12/07/2004 11:25:40 AM PST by Jimmyclyde (Dying ain't much of a living boy...)
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Yehuda; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; ...
If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.
10 posted on 12/07/2004 11:33:26 AM PST by SJackson ( Bush is as free as a bird, He is only accountable to history and God, Ra'anan Gissin)
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To: knighthawk
wow, I wonder how many bomb belts they can make with so much money, and how many terrorist mercs can they contract with all that money?

I really have a hard time thinking that these 'people' can do anything else except create violence against the Israeli's and Americans

11 posted on 12/07/2004 11:34:13 AM PST by prophetic ("I think you can be an honest person and lie about any number of things."--Dan Rather)
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To: knighthawk

Scum.


12 posted on 12/07/2004 11:35:04 AM PST by DoctorMichael (The Fourth Estate is a Fifth Column!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
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To: oolatec
And who will pocket this money now that Arafish is a rotting corpse?

Abu Mazen was the one who set up all of Yasser's offshore bank accounts. He probably set up some for himself as well.

13 posted on 12/07/2004 11:35:15 AM PST by Alouette ("Fundamentalist Islam" -- not "fun" just "demented"...)
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To: knighthawk

they whould look up Arafat's swiss accounts... lotsa billions there


14 posted on 12/07/2004 11:37:49 AM PST by Cinnamon
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To: knighthawk
Not one dime until a permanent, workable peace is signed between the Pals and the Israel. Otherwise, we're simply funding continued terrorist attacks.

BTW, with all the uncounted billions the Arabs have from oil production, why do they need money from some other source to help one of their own?

15 posted on 12/07/2004 11:45:25 AM PST by Exeter
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To: knighthawk

"Palestinians to seek $4 billion at Oslo aid talks"

Memo to Palies: And people in hell want ice water, too!


16 posted on 12/07/2004 11:57:31 AM PST by Convert from ECUSA (tired of shucking and jiving)
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To: knighthawk
The Palestinian Authority will ask donor countries at a meeting in Oslo for about $4 billion over three years to stave off an economic crisis

Shouldn't this read "to stave off their current economic crisis"? I mean, since they produce nothing but suicide bombers and death they're pretty much in a permanent economic crisis.

17 posted on 12/07/2004 12:03:48 PM PST by CaptRon (Pedecaris alive or Raisuli dead)
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To: knighthawk

And whose fault is it that the palis live in poverty? OK, I know that araRAT is dead but freeze all his assets and the palis might see some of the money returned. BTW, "donor countries" mean all those oil-rich arab states, I hope.


18 posted on 12/07/2004 12:20:24 PM PST by lilylangtree (Veni, Vidi, Vici)
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To: knighthawk

LOL---eom


19 posted on 12/07/2004 12:35:49 PM PST by rang1995 (They will love us when we win)
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To: knighthawk

Talk about pouring money down a rat hole.


20 posted on 12/07/2004 12:38:58 PM PST by mewzilla
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