Isabel Kershner
The New York Times
May 9, 2011 - 12:00am
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/10/world/middleeast/10briefs-ART-Westbank.html?_r...


The Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, left, said Monday that the Palestinian Authority could not pay the salaries of its employees on time this month because of Israel’s decision to withhold the transfer of tax revenue it collects on behalf of the Palestinians. Israel delayed the transfer of almost $90 million after the reconciliation last week between Fatah, the party that dominates the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, and Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza. Israel said it was suspending all such transfers until there were guarantees that none of the money would end up in the treasury of Hamas, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction. The Palestinian Authority has had financial difficulties since late last year and is running a monthly deficit of $30 million. The French government provided it with a special grant of $14.3 million on Monday. On Friday, the European Union said it would advance $121.9 million to help it meet its needs.




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