Fuente : World Bank
http://www.worldbank.org

World Bank Head Talks Palestinian Aid After Arafat

/noticias.info/ World Bank chief, James Wolfensohn, currently in Jerusalem, began talks on Tuesday to push for Palestinian economic recovery and reform after Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat's death, steps seen as critical to reviving Palestinian-Israeli peacemaking, Reuters reports. It is Wolfensohn's first Middle East trip since the 2000 outbreak of a Palestinian revolt that, together with Israeli military clampdowns, has undone economic progress in years of relative peace and plunged most Palestinians into poverty.

The November death of Arafat and the rise of veteran moderate Mahmoud Abbas to succeed him has revived Middle East diplomatic and rebuilding efforts. Wolfensohn is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, and on the Palestinian side, Abbas and Prime Minister Ahmed Qoreï. A World Bank statement said, "Wolfensohn will review steps that the two parties need to take if they are to establish the preconditions for economic growth in the Palestinian territories (West Bank and Gaza Strip).”

Dow Jones further reports that Wolfensohn said the World Bank wants to raise $500 million for the Palestinians, but links the additional aid to an easing of Israeli travel bans and Palestinian reform. He said the Bank is not imposing conditions, but that international donors want to see conditions improve to make the aid more effective. "The donors, essentially, today, having gone through the Intifada (Palestinian uprising), are going to want to feel that if they put in an additional $500 million, that it's being done seriously and with an opportunity for a viable area," Wolfensohn said. International donors, led by the US and Europe, already provide more than $900 million in assistance to the Palestinians each year. But donors have complained that four years of fighting have greatly limited the effectiveness of the aid.

In a recent report, the World Bank said Israel's travel bans have stifled the Palestinian economy by preventing the movement of Palestinian workers and goods. Israel says the restrictions are needed to protect the country's security. The report also called on the Palestinians to step up a financial reform effort and crack down on militant groups.

Haaretz (Israel) and Agence France Presse also report Wolfensohn said that disengagement is insufficient if it does not also give hope to the Palestinians. During his trip to the Middle-East, Wolfensohn will try to obtain the reactions of the leaders in the region to the World Bank's plan for rehabilitating the Palestinian economy after the pullout. "What we did in the paper that we prepared was to simply say, look, if you are trying to withdraw [from Gaza], that's a wonderful thing, but if you don't give hope at the same time ... you're not really achieving very much," he said. “You need to restore the possibility of hope for young Palestinians.” Wolfensohn opposes Israel's plan for economic separation from the Palestinians following the disengagement. He is also unenthusiastic about an Israeli proposal to use international donations to rehabilitate Palestinian refugee camps. "I call them feel-good projects; they make you feel good and do good things ... but it's not enough. It has to be in the context of something," he said.

Agence France Presse meanwhile notes that sponsors of the roadmap peace plan for the Middle East insisted Monday that they would not allow Israel's planned withdrawal of soldiers and settlers from Gaza to thwart a more comprehensive settlement. Marc Otte, the EU envoy to the Middle East peace process said "We are supporting disengagement on the condition that it is consistent with the roadmap, that it leads to the roadmap, that it is compatible to the two-state solution, that it is negotiated and coordinated with the Palestinian Authority and that Israel helps with reconstruction.” However, since the roadmap blueprint was launched in June last year, it has made virtually no progress and Washington is now talking about 2009 as a more realistic date for a Palestinian state.

Le Monde (France) meanwhile reports that British Prime Minister Tony Blair is heading to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Tuesday to finalize his project of a “mini conference” on the Middle East, planned for the beginning of 2005 in London. He wants to convince Israeli leaders to attend. Blair is planned to meet with Sharon and Shalom, as well as Qoreï and Abbas. The conference would seek to strengthen the European Union and the US financial support to the Palestinians, especially now that the Israeli pullout of the Gaza Strip is in perspective.

According to the New York Times, the EU and the US could offer $6 to 8 million over a four year period is Palestinians agree to curb attacks from armed factions, and if Israel removes it military closures around the West Bank and Gaza.

The Independent (UK) finally notes that Sharon announced on Monday that Israel would not attend the conference. The summit will be attended by foreign ministers of donor countries and representatives of the quartet that drafted the road map - the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations. notas_de_prensa_archivo