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Politics

U.S. to pledge $500-million for West Bank Palestinians

WASHINGTON - The United States will pledge about $500-million for the moderate-led Palestinian government in the West Bank when Arab, European and other nations meet next week, U.S. officials said Friday.

The money would go toward a goal of $5.6-billion that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair hopes to raise to rescue the Palestinian economy and reinforce institutions that would become the backbone of any eventual Palestinian state.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will deliver the pledge at a conference Blair has called for Monday in Paris, the officials said. The officials spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the precise amount of the pledge has not been determined yet.

The money is part of world efforts to improve the Palestinians' bottom line as new U.S.-sponsored peace talks begin. Rice cannot promise that she will deliver on the pledge, which must be approved by Congress. The money includes about $400-million that the White House has already announced, but that has not been approved by Congress.

Some members of Congress are worried that money spent to strengthen the West Bank government could end up benefiting Hamas, the rival radical-led government in the Gaza Strip. Other legislators want greater assurance that the West Bank government has eliminated corruption and cronyism.

Rice will meet Sunday with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to discuss the pledge. Fayyad is a banker whose reputation and efforts to reform the government are often touted by the Bush administration.

DETAINED IN GAZA: Hamas gunmen on Friday burst into the home of a top Fatah official in the Gaza Strip and arrested him for "illegal activities," relatives said. Omar Al-Ghoul, an adviser to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, had been spending much of his time in the West Bank after Hamas violently seized control of Gaza in June. He arrived in Gaza on Thursday to attend his mother-in-law's funeral.

[Last modified December 15, 2007, 01:59:16]