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World Bank official backs agency for Gaza pullout
05 May 2005 00:16:50 GMT
Source: Reuters
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WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - The World Bank is willing to back a temporary Palestinian institution to oversee the transfer of assets to Palestinians once Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip, a top bank official said on Wednesday. Christiaan Poortman, World Bank vice president for the Middle East and North Africa, said the special institution would help ensure settlement houses in the impoverished Gaza Strip were not destroyed and that Palestinians did not rush to occupy the homes. "We are willing to play an advisory role and willing to be a party associated with that, but we are not willing to buy or sell the assets," Poortman told Reuters in an interview. "The offer is on the table," he added. Israel has undertaken to evacuate all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four of 120 in the West Bank this year under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to "disengage" from conflict with the Palestinians. Poortman said Israel's planned pullout would only deliver economic benefits to the territories if Palestinians improved security so that Israel could roll back checkpoints and barriers preventing the free movement of people and goods. "The territories need to be allowed to develop into a place where people would like to do business and would allow them to play their role in the international markets," Poortman said. The World Bank in December launched a blueprint for the revival of the Palestinian economy amid Israeli withdrawal plans. Outgoing World Bank President James Wolfensohn has since been named to represent major powers in coordinating the pullout by focusing on economic and social development in Palestinian territories and marshaling international support. He has said he will use the World Bank report as his reference. The report recommends that Israel open internal routes between West Bank cities and border areas and strengthen economic relations with the territories, while the Palestinian Authority should undertake judicial reforms, tackle corruption and ensure transparent management of settlement assets. Poortman said the World Bank was willing to work with both sides to see how border crossings could be adjusted to help the process of lifting the barriers, which will be one of Wolfensohn's main tasks. Poortman said the bank stood ready with financial and technical support in the form of grants or interest-free loans to help the struggling Palestinian economy. He said the World Bank and Palestinian Authority were on the cusp of negotiations on a new bank-lending strategy. Poortman said corruption in the Palestinian Authority was a concern that needed to be tackled together with internal reforms if the Palestinians wanted international donor support. Corruption is being used as an election issue by the Islamic militant group Hamas against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement in planned elections this year.
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