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End Sleaze or Lose Aid, World Bank Tells Arafat

(Scotsman-UK) - The World Bank has issued the Palestinian Authority with an ultimatum to put an end to rampant corruption or lose hundreds of millions of pounds of vital foreign aid. The Bank's top official in the region, Nigel Roberts, said Yasser Arafat had to stop the handing of large cash payments to his security commanders - used to keep them loyal to Arafat personally. Roberts said the Palestinians were receiving the largest amount of money per capita in the history of foreign aid. At a conference of foreign donors in Rome last year, the PA asked for $1.2bn to alleviate its current financial crisis. Roberts said: "To get that money will require a very forceful program of continued commitment to reform by the PA and by the Palestinian Ministry of Finance. Without evident commitment and progress towards tightening these systems and improving accountability, the PA will not get the money it needs."
2004-03-01 00:00:00
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