PA, Hamas Trade Barbs over Gaza Power Blackout

(Maan News) As Gaza experienced a wide-scale blackout on Saturday, the Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Information Center accused PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad of responsibility, charging that Fatah was "stealing sums of money donated by the EU for fuel shipments." Ghassan al-Khatib, spokesman for the Fayyad government, said the PA pays approximately 90% of Gaza's electricity bills and that Hamas did not want to contribute to paying for fuel shipments. "There are between 70,000 to 80,000 employees whose salaries are paid for by the PA; 20,000 take their salaries from UNRWA, while Hamas pays the salaries of 50,000 employees. Are these people unemployed? Why don't they pay their electricity bills?" al-Khatib asked.


2010-04-12 09:31:51

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