US authorities have frozen the assets of the Palestinian Authority in the United States after the PA reportedly failed to pay a $116 million judgment in a lawsuit brought by relatives of a couple killed in a Palestinian attack in Israel.
Hasan Abdel Rahman, head of the PA's Washington office, appealed to the US government for help, saying that the order significantly burdened the operations of his Washington office, whose monthly budget for the office is about $50,000.
"It paralyzes the function of the office, and I think that is the intention of the plaintiffs,” Rahman said. He added that he has been unable to pay the nine employees in his office for the past three months.
According to the AP, one US State Department spokesman replied on Tuesday that he could not comment on how the US government planned to address the matter. However, Rahman said that US President George W. Bush made it clear that it was in the interest of the United States to keep the office open, adding that he was hopeful that US authorities would intervene.
The lawsuit, filed 2000, alleged that the Palestinian Authority and PLO provided a safe haven and operational base for Hamas, who took responsibility for a 1996 attack which killed Yaron and Efrat Ungar. Yaron Ungar was an American citizen.
Last year, the Palestinian Authority and PLO, represented by former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, were ordered by the US District Court in Rhode Island to pay the sum.
The Palestinian Authority did not oppose the suit, arguing that it has sovereign immunity under international law and to appear in court would compromise that sovereignty. The Palestinians have until October to ask the Supreme Court for a review.
© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
