The Bush administration has been given a green light by Congress to spend $59 million to bolster Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' presidential guard and for other security expenses, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday.

"We are good to go ... we have addressed Congress's concerns and there is good political support for this," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

He said the money, which had been held up by Congress, would also be used for security improvements at Gaza's main commercial crossings with Israel, for logistics and communications equipment, and other security expenses.

	Advertisement

The official said the State Department was officially notified by Congress late on Monday about the decision, which he said would provide much-needed security support to Abbas.

"This has also been done with Israeli agreement and understanding," the official said of the U.S. funding.

Several U.S. lawmakers had held up the money, fearing it could reach Islamist Hamas, which formed a unity government with Abbas's Fatah party after months of negotiation.

The United States considers Hamas a terrorist group, and under U.S. law, taxpayer funds cannot go to such a group.

A large chunk of the initial $86 million request had been intended for training Abbas's security forces, the closest thing the Palestinians have to an army.

But U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice submitted a new, pared-down plan to Congress, cutting out funds she feared could have reached the "wrong hands."

"We decided not to proceed with that [funding national-security forces] right now until we could be sure how the system operated with the new national unity government. We haven't said we will never do that, but just that we will not do it right now," the senior official said.

Most of the security package - $43.4 million - will be used to "transform and strengthen" Abbas's presidential guard, according to U.S. government documents.

This sum includes $14.5 million for "basic and advanced training," $23 million for nonlethal equipment, $2.9 million to upgrade the guard's facilities and $3 million to provide "capacity building and technical assistance" to the office of Abbas's national security advisor, a long-time foe of Hamas.

Despite the security funding for Abbas, a Western boycott of the Palestinian Authority would remain in place, the official said.

The United States and other members of the so-called quartet of Middle East peace brokers - Russia, the United Nations and the European Union - have imposed an aid embargo on the Palestinian Authority until it recognizes Israel, renounces violence and accepts past peace agreements.

However, a Western boycott on diplomatic contacts with non-Hamas ministers of the government has been eased.

U.S. officials met with the new government's finance minister, Salam Fayyad, during Rice's visit to the West Bank last month, the senior official said.

Fayyad is embarking on a trip abroad this week to drum up aid for the Palestinian Authority, and will also travel to Washington to attend the International Monetary Fund's spring meetings.

EU officials warn against high expectations for Fayad meeting
European Union officials warned against expecting too much from the meeting between Fayad and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Union's external relations commissioner, in Brussels on Wednesday.

They said the meeting was important to hear from Fayad - who won international praise for reforming Palestinian finances under the late Yasser Arafat - what help he needs and when his ministry may be ready to receive it.

But asked when the 27-nation bloc would decide on resuming direct aid, one EU official said: "It's going to take a while. [Fayad's visit] is one step, definitely not the final, we are still in the exploratory phase."

The Quartet of Middle East mediators - the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union - suspended direct aid to the Palestinian Authority after the Islamist militant group Hamas formed a government last year.

On Thursday, Fayad will meet Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere. He will also travel to Washington to attend the International Monetary Fund's spring meetings.

Fayad said his discussions "will focus on mobilizing financial support to help us deal with the magnitude of the crisis we face and to discuss ways and means necessary to re-establish normal relations between the Palestinian Authority and the international community".

Hamas established a unity government with the secular Fatah faction last month but did not meet Quartet demands to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept past interim peace deals.

Ferrero-Waldner said last week that engagement with non-Hamas ministers, such as Fayad, in the Palestinian government did not signal an intent to resume direct aid.

She said a temporary mechanism to distribute aid to the Palestinians bypassing their government would remain in place for a while longer.

Last week Fayad, who also served as finance minister from 2002 to 2005, wrote an opinion piece in international and Palestinian newspapers restating his acceptance of the Quartet's terms and peace moves with Israel.

Senior Palestinian officials said Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will also visit Europe and Asia next week to discuss aid to the Palestinian Authority.

Meanwhile, Fayad said Tuesday that the Palestinian Authority is operating on a quarter of the funds it needs to finance its activities.

"Minimally, I estimate expenditures of the Palestinian Authority at $160 million a month at present. What we have is no more than $40 million a month," Fayad told Reuters.

"Clearly this is not something that can be sustained."