“What’s important is, you have to have a partner who is committed to peace, and we believe that President Abbas is,” said Tony Snow.
A little background on Abbas’s commitment to peace: Abbas urges: ‘Raise rifles against Israel’
By Joseph Curl in the Washington Times (thanks to Ruth King):
The Bush administration yesterday lifted economic sanctions and a diplomatic embargo against the Palestinian Authority after its expulsion of the Islamist group Hamas, which seized the Gaza Strip last week.
Seeking to strengthen President Mahmoud Abbas by resuming direct U.S. aid, the administration moved swiftly after Mr. Abbas ousted Hamas from his national security council, installed an emergency Cabinet and outlawed the terrorist militia, which calls for the destruction of Israel and the death of all Jews worldwide.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that she told new Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad of the decision to end the 15-month-old embargo in a telephone call.
“I told him the United States would resume full assistance to the Palestinian government and normal government-to-government contacts,” she told reporters at the State Department.
“We intend to lift our financial restrictions on the Palestinian government, which has accepted previous agreements with Israel and rejects the path of violence. This will enable the American people and American financial institutions to resume normal economic and commercial ties with the Palestinian government,” Miss Rice said.
In another major boost to Mr. Abbas, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana announced yesterday in Luxembourg that the 27-nation bloc would resume direct financial aid — hundreds of millions of dollars — to the Palestinian Authority now that Hamas is no longer part of the government.
Mr. Abbas’ Information Minister Riyad al-Malki told reporters after the new government met in the West Bank city of Ramallah that “the government will pursue its jurisdiction over all parts of the homeland, regardless of what happened in Gaza.”
In the past week, Hamas has seized control of Gaza by force, winning a series of battles with Mr. Abbas’ Fatah movement and executing its members.
The U.S. move to remove sanctions and restore funding still requires the approval of Congress, but Miss Rice said the administration will request lawmakers rework an earlier $86 million aid request. Mr. Abbas needs that money to increase his security forces.
Earlier yesterday, the White House said, President Bush spoke with Mr. Abbas to express full U.S. support for his decision to move against Hamas. In the call, Mr. Bush noted that he plans to meet today with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and that he would share their thoughts on how to continue, White House press secretary Tony Snow said.
“What’s important is, you have to have a partner who is committed to peace, and we believe that President Abbas is,” Mr. Snow said. “Therefore, we are committed to working with this new emergency government.”