Palestinians seek $300 million in emergency aid

The Palestinian Authority will ask international envoy James Wolfensohn to quickly release $300 million in aid to keep government ministries running, a senior official said on Monday.
Palestinian Economy Minister Mazen Sonnoqrot, in an interview with Reuters, said the money had been pledged by donor countries last year. The Palestinian Authority now urgently needs financial aid to cover expenses over the next two months.
The cash-strapped authority is dependent on tax revenues collected by Israel and foreign aid to pay its 140,000 employees and keep its ministries and institutions functioning.
That money could dry up once the Islamist militant group Hamas, which won last month's parliamentary election, enters government. Hamas hopes to form a government later this month but the process could take two months, officials said.
"In order to maintain the continuity of the institutions, we need at least $300 million," Sonnoqrot said, adding that he would make the request this week when he meets with Wolfensohn, special envoy for Western powers in the Middle East.
An aide to Wolfensohn confirmed that the former World Bank chief would meet President Mahmoud Abbas and other leaders to discuss the authority's finances. The aide said he was unaware of the $300 million request.
Sonnoqrot said the authority needed about $800 million in aid over the next six months. He said he expected Saudi Arabia and Qatar, in addition to international donors, to contribute.
Sonnoqrot's aid request came a day after an internal investigation revealed that at least $700 million of funds from the Palestinian Authority's coffers have been squandered or stolen.
Hamas, which has carried out dozens of suicide bombings against Israel in a 5-year-old uprising, won a big majority on a platform focusing on its charity work and corruption-free image. The United States and European Union have demanded Hamas renounce violence, disarm and change its charter calling for the destruction of the Jewish state or risk losing foreign aid to a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.