Palestinian Workers' Pay Is 3 Weeks Late

Thu Apr 20, 2:59 PM ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank - The Hamas-led government has still not found a way to pay its 165,000 employees, whose salaries already are three weeks overdue, the finance minister said Thursday.

Finance Minister Omar Abdel Razek also told The Associated Press in an interview that there is no guarantee money pledged by Muslim countries will reach the empty Palestinian treasury.

The government employees are the backbone of the Palestinian labor force, and their salaries sustain about one-third of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The March salaries, due at the beginning of April, have not been paid. Abdel Razek said he could not commit to a payment date.

"For sure, the salaries are my main priority, but it is a problem," Abdel Razek said. "It's a puzzling problem. You can't do anything. You can only wait. So I have a strange feeling. For the first time, I find myself in such a dilemma. But I hope that God will provide a solution."

Sitting in his office on the fourth floor of the Finance Ministry in Ramallah, with a view of the Jewish settlement of Psagot, Abdel Razek said the number of workers on the government payroll had risen to 165,000 since Hamas' Jan. 25 election victory.

In the two months between the election and Hamas' assumption of power, the outgoing government of the defeated Fatah Party hired 9,000 more employees, he said. The number of security officers has risen to 80,000, from the 60,000 reported by the last government, he said.

The Palestinian Authority needs about $160 million every month - $118 million for the payroll and $40 million in operating costs, he said. The government has about $30 million in monthly income, but that money is being spent on the most crucial ministries - health and social welfare.

The United States and the European Union have cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinian Authority since Hamas formed its Cabinet late last month. The West says it will shun the Hamas-led government until the Islamic militants recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept existing peace agreements.

Israel also cut off its monthly transfer of about $55 million in taxes it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

In a report issued Wednesday, the United Nations warned of a grave humanitarian crisis if the foreign funding remains frozen, with poverty in the West Bank and Gaza reaching as high as 75 percent.

Hamas hopes the Muslim and Arab world will fill the gap. In recent days, Iran and Qatar pledged $50 million each. Russia also promised financial aid, but has not specified an amount. Qatar transferred the pledged money to the Arab League, but it is not clear how the money will get to the West Bank and Gaza.

The Jordan-based Arab Bank, where the previous government had its account, appears reluctant to channel foreign aid to the new government.

"The Arab Bank has a special problem," Abdel Razek said. "It has lawsuits in the U.S. and it deals with the issue in a very sensitive way. And we are discussing with the bank ways we can work together."

Abdel Razek said he believed the money would eventually be transferred through other banks.

Asked about a long-term solution, Abdel Razek said: "The required way out is impossible because we are not going to concede our principles."

He said the group would try to open a dialogue with the West, but was evasive about how it would do so without meeting the three demands of the international community.

Abdel Razek said three Hamas delegations were touring the Gulf states. He would not say how much money they have raised so far. He said that if the Arab world provides emergency aid for three to five months, Hamas would implement its austerity plan, including cutting government spending.

Asked what would happen if the aid does not come, he said: "I don't want to think of the worst. We will keep talking with the Arab countries, and we hope they will help us overcome the crisis."

He said that he will pay at least part of the salaries if he cannot cover the entire payroll.

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