Palestinians demand help from US

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said today he will demand US President George Bush provide the Palestinians with strong political and financial support during a meeting next week.

Abbas’ White House meeting with Bush on Thursday could give the Palestinian leader a much-needed boost just as he is about to go head-to-head with his top rival – Hamas – in a parliamentary election, and prepares for the difficult task of taking over Gaza Strip areas Israel is to evacuate this summer.

Abbas heads to Washington as a three-day round of violence in Gaza died down. Abbas said the recent violence, which threatened a truce with Israel, would not overshadow his talks in Washington.

“We are going to demand two basic things: the first is political support and the second is economic support,” Abbas said in Ramallah after arriving home from a two-week tour of South America and Asia.

Congress recently approved a £150 million financial aid package for the Palestinians to help bolster their ailing economy and rehabilitate their shattered security forces. Congress is also expected to consider an additional £88 million in aid next year, said USAID spokeswoman Sylvana Foa.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak hours before arriving home, Abbas dismissed concerns that the recent flare-up of violence in Gaza would not have a negative impact on his talks with Bush.

“The events are minor and they have calmed down,” Abbas said at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik. “I think that the situation has begun to come under control in Gaza.”

The violence erupted after weeks of relative calm in the volatile Gaza Strip. Since Wednesday, three Palestinian militants have been killed. Militants have fired dozens of homemade rockets and mortar shells at Jewish settlements.

The Hamas militant group has agreed to stop firing rockets at Gaza’s settlements and reaffirmed their commitment to the shaky Israeli-Palestinian truce declared in February, the Palestinian Interior Ministry said.

Hamas – expected to make a strong showing in the parliamentary election opposite Abbas’ ruling Fatah party – is trying to further bolster its position ahead of the vote. Israeli security officials speculated the latest round of violence was an attempt by Hamas to embarrass Abbas.

Abbas said he will also demand Bush declare a “frank American position on implementing the road map after the Gaza withdrawal” this summer.

Both Israel and the Palestinians have failed to fulfil their obligations under the US-backed road map peace plan which calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The US and the Palestinians hope Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to withdraw from all Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements this summer will jump-start long-stalled peace talks.

Sharon has said he will not negotiate with the Palestinians unless they disarm militant groups, a step Abbas has so far refused to take despite his commitments under the road map. The Palestinians on the other hand fear Israel will use the Gaza pullout as a means for holding onto chunks of the West Bank.

Abbas is also expected to ask Bush to intensify US pressure on Israel to freeze West Bank settlement expansion, a key Israeli obligation under the road map.

The Palestinians are especially concerned about an Israeli plan to build 3,650 housing units in the settlement of Maaleh Adumim – the largest Jewish community in the West Bank. Despite public US criticism of the building plan, Sharon has said he will go ahead with construction.

The housing units would connect between Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem, effectively cutting West Bank Palestinians off from east Jerusalem, home to some 200,000 Palestinians and a hub of commercial activity. The construction plan would also destroy Palestinian dreams of making east Jerusalem the capital of their future state.