Arab League urges members to ease PA financial crisis
Published 13 January 2013 21:32
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=555785

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Arab foreign ministers agreed Sunday to form a
delegation to press member states to fulfill their financial obligations to
the Palestinian Authority, a statement said.

The delegation will be comprised of PA prime minister Salam Fayyad, Arab
League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi, the Iraqi foreign minister, and
Lebanon's foreign minister, Adnan Mansour.

The Arab League called on the international community to force Israel to
release PA tax revenues, a statement from the Cairo meeting added.

In December, Arab states agreed to provide the Palestinian Authority with a
$100 million monthly "financial safety net" to help President Mahmoud
Abbas's government cope with an economic crisis after the United Nations
granted de facto statehood to Palestine.

Since early December, Israel has withheld around $100 million in monthly tax
revenue it collects on behalf of the PA as punishment for the UN's
acceptance of Palestine as a non-member state.