GAZA/BRUSSELS, 16 July — The European Union yesterday angrily dismissed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s charge that the Palestinian Authority continues to use aid from the European Union (EU) to "finance terrorism".
"We have already heard this position on numerous occasions. We do not have any proof to support these claims," said Gunnar Weigand, a spokesman for European External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten. Sharon made his allegations in letters sent to the EU, UN, US and Russia.
"In his letters, Sharon stresses that part of the money the EU is continuing to send to the Palestinian Authority is being used to finance terrorist activities, while the rest goes straight into the pockets of some Palestinian officials," an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity.
The EU spokesman also said Brussels was considering sending observers to monitor the Palestinian elections in January.
Weigand told a press conference that a team of EU experts has been sent to evaluate what support the 15-nation bloc can provide to help the Palestinian Authority organize the presidential and legislative polls.
In Cairo, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned yesterday that the alternative to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat would be "chaos," and that force would not resolve Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians.
"Use of force will not solve the problem at all...Use of force just deepens the rancour between peoples and that will take longer to get to rid of," Mubarak told a news conference.
Mubarak and Israel’s Binyamin Ben-Eliezer met in Egypt’s Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria one day before the "quartet" of big powers — the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia — meet in New York in efforts to give peace efforts a new diplomatic push.
The Israeli defence chief had been widely expected to try to persuade Mubarak that Arafat should be shunted aside as Palestinian leader — as demanded by the United States, the main Western ally and aid provider to both Israel and Egypt.
However, Mubarak said: "We differ on this issue...But we can find a way, without affecting Arafat, to help negotiations and reach a solution.
At a separate briefing after the talks, Ben-Eliezer said that once the Palestinians made efforts to "bring violence down" Israel would surprise the world by doing "everything in order to help them and support them".
In Qalqilya, West Bank, a Palestinian was killed in a factory fire after Israeli troops fired stun grenades inside the building yesterday, Palestinian hospital sources said.
Israeli soldiers had exploded a first grenade inside the factory, setting off a minor fire which the 15 Palestinian workers inside the building had managed to extinguish, the owner of the factory, Haldun Zeid, told AFP.
A second grenade then ignited a new fire, causing greater damage to the factory, which manufactures synthetic sponge used mainly in the furniture industry, Zeid said.
The workers then evacuated the building, except for 23-year-old Mahmud Samir Hilal, who was apparently trapped inside.
Adviser to Arafat, Nabil Abu Rudeina called on the Middle East quartet of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations to demand an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories.
