LONDON — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday chided Arab countries for not helping the Palestinians financially to establish a viable state, and she accused some states of trying to get away with giving as little aid as possible.
Miss Rice, beginning a trip focused mostly on the Middle East, also said that it is too early to “despair” about missing the Bush administration”s year-end deadline for reaching a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
“States that have resources ought to be looking not for how little they can do, but how much they can do,” she said when asked about the limited Arab support for the Palestinians in a briefing to reporters on her way to London.
They “need to put those resources to use now in order to lay the groundwork for the establishment of a [Palestinian] state,” the secretary said, although she did not name specific countries to avoid being seen as pointing fingers.
In addition to “budget support” for the Palestinian Authority, help is needed to implement a “broad national plan” drawn up by Prime Minister Salaam Fayad and his Cabinet, which was presented in Paris, she said.
“Salaam Fayad has a whole list of projects in villages — whether they are health clinics or schools — that he wants to refurbish,” she said. “There are Palestinian security forces to be trained. There are Palestinian entrepreneurial funds that need to be developed.”
She said that less than half of the $1.5 billion pledged for budget support at a December donors” conference in Paris has been paid — $502 million by the United States and Europe, and $215 million by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Algeria.
A senior State Department official traveling with Miss Rice said that the UAE has been “very generous,” but other oil-rich countries such as Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Libya have yet to honor their promises.
A total of about $7 billion was pledged in Paris, including for projects that are not part of the government”s budget.
“The Palestinians are in a situation in which they are very dependent on the international community for resources, so we have to make sure that all of it is paid, not just half of it,” Miss Rice said.
She is scheduled to meet in London today with the so-called Quartet for Middle East peace, which is made up of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States.
She will also participate in a meeting hosted by the Quartet”s special envoy, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is trying to elevate the Palestinians” economic plight by working both with governments and the private sector.
Tomorrow, Miss Rice flies to Israel, where she will try to revive talks between the two sides ahead of President Bush”s visit to the Jewish state in two weeks for the 60th anniversary of its founding.
“The window for the two-state solution will not be forever open — in fact, you could argue that it”s gotten narrower and narrower over time,” she said.
There is widespread skepticism in the region that the goal of an agreement by end of Mr. Bush”s term in office can be achieved, but Miss Rice sounded more optimistic yesterday.
“It is far too early to start any sense of despair about the end of the year that has been set as a goal by both sides,” she said.
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