Algeria gives $26m to Palestinian Authority

Algeria has transferred $26m in emergency relief to the Palestinian National Authority, the Arab League has reported. The Arab League described the sum as a contribution by the North African country to help the Palestinian people and its National Authority through the pressing financial crisis caused by Israeli threats and pressures arising from the United Nations vote, which awarded Palestine the status of non-member observer state in November. The deputy secretary-general of the Arab League, Ahmed Ben Helli, said that Algeria informed the Arab organisation today that it had made the transfer, expecting it to be available in April in accordance with Arab League policy for processing contributions to the Palestinian Authority’s budget. The policy, set in Arab summits, was put in place in support of the PA and to relieve the financial crisis from which it has been suffering. Ben Helli said that Arab League chief, Nabil el-Arabi, had sent emergency notes to Arab foreign ministers and also telephoned those from "capable" Arab states, urging them to quickly pay their set contributions to the PA’s budget, to enable the governing entity to meet the Palestinian people’s urgent needs. Ben Helli added that the Arab organisation and its leader have been preparing for intensive talks with Arab states to accelerate the implementation of the "financial safety net." agreed upon in March 2012 at the Baghdad summit. The scheme sets a monthly sum of $100m in Arab aid to the PA to help it through the financial crisis which has rendered it unable to pay civil servants’ wages. The urgency for implementing the scheme arises from Israel’s withholding of funds it owed to the Authority, coupled with attempts by Congress to cut off aid and impose financial and economic pressures on the PA which took place in the wake of the UN status upgrade.