VIENNA, 24 August 2003 — The Austrian government and a Swiss-based Palestinian group yesterday rejected Washington’s claims that several European non-governmental organizations have been financing the radical Palestinian group Hamas.
They were reacting to President George W. Bush’s move on Friday, freezing the assets of five non-governmental organizations. The list includes the Palestinian Association of Austria and the Swiss-Palestinian Association (ASP).
A spokesman for Interior Minister Rudolf Gollia denied that the organization, registered in Austria since 1993, had already been the subject of an inquiry by the Austrian authorities. It had “not been found guilty of any reprehensible act under Austrian law according to the Austrian inquiry,” the agency quoted Gollia as saying.
In Geneva, the Swiss-Palestinian Association (ASP), whose assets were also frozen on Friday, has flatly denied any wrongdoing, the Swiss agency ATS quoted a spokesman for the organization as saying.
A spokesperson for the Swiss organization insisted that it steered clear of party politics. ASP’s activities were “transparent” and humanitarian, and its funds registered and controlled by Swiss laws, the spokesman insisted. Founded in 1993, the Swiss outfit’s activities comprised mainly of setting up medical centers and raising orphans in the Gaza strip, and in refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan.
The three other groups named by Washington on Friday include the Comite de Bienfaisance et de Secours aux Palestiniens, based in France, INTERPAL in Britain, and the Sanabil Association for Relief and Development, based in Sidon, Lebanon.
The French organization has also flatly denied Bush’s allegations. “It is a ridiculous accusation. We have no direct or indirect link at all with Hamas,” a spokesman for the Committee for Palestinian Charity and Aid, Youcef Benderbal, told AFP yesterday.
The Lebanon charity targeted by Bush for alleged links with Hamas closed six weeks ago, employees said yesterday. “The Sanabil organization center in the (southern) town of Sidon closed a month and a half ago, following a ruling from the Lebanese judiciary,” one employee told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“The ruling was made after the association was listed as a terrorist organization by the United States,” the employee added. Bush said the action was in retaliation for a bombing claimed by Hamas this week.
