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Regional Powers Grow Uneasy with Palestinian Leader
(Reuters-New York Times) Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other Arab states are piling pressure on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resolve divisions in his Fatah party and with the rival Hamas movement. In a non-binding paper circulated last month, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates made recommendations for tackling the splits. Mouin Rabbani, a senior fellow with the Institute for Palestine Studies, said, "The primary reasons are Abbas' systematic mismanagement of such relationships, and a weakness of leadership that has opened greater opportunities for Arab and foreign interference in Palestinian internal affairs." In a clear signal of its growing frustration, Saudi Arabia, which normally provides around $20 million a month to the Palestinian budget, has not made any contributions since April. Palestinian officials say Riyadh is withholding the funds because it first wants to see progress on unity within Fatah and with Hamas.