US backs Fatah to keep extremists out

Masked Hamas supporters at an election rally in Jenin. Picture / Reuters

WASHINGTON - The United States has spent almost US$2 million ($3 million) in a bid to bolster the Palestinian Authority's governing Fatah party against the Islamic militant group Hamas before tomorrow night's parliamentary election.

Hamas, making its first bid for parliamentary seats, has been riding a wave of popularity among Palestinians because of its corruption-free reputation and extensive charity network.

A spokeswoman for the American consulate in East Jerusalem, Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, told the New York Times the programme was designed "to work with the Palestinian Authority to enhance democratic institutions and support democratic actors, not just Fatah".

The newspaper cited US and Palestinians officials who asked not to be identified, as saying the programme, which began in August, was aimed at helping defeat Hamas.

The US State Department had no comment.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement was widely expected to lose ground to Hamas in the election.

Hamas is sworn to Israel's destruction and has carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings against Israelis during the latest Palestinian uprising that has lasted more than five years.

The United States and Israel fear Hamas could make a strong enough showing against Abbas' dominant Fatah movement to win Cabinet seats.

The Washington Post first reported that the US Agency for International Development was spending about US$2 million to finance projects ranging from tree-planting to street-cleaning and computers at community centres. The projects were co-ordinated with Abbas and meant to be associated with him and the Palestinian Authority, the newspaper said.

US officials said the goal of limiting Hamas' influence in the next Palestinian Government outweighed concerns about the decision not to disclose the US Government's role in the campaign, the newspaper reported.

"We are not favouring any particular party," James Bever, the USAid mission director for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, was quoted as saying.

"But we do not support parties that are on the terrorism list. We are here to support the democratic process."

Since the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Hamas has won many seats in areas such as Gaza, Qalqilya and Nablus.

The organisation has an unknown number of active members but tens of thousands of sympathisers.

Hamas: from moderates to fanatics
* An acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas was founded in the late 1980s, during the first Palestinian revolt.
* Originally moderate, it supported charitable projects and eschewed armed struggle. Became radical in 1990s under leadership of wheelchair-bound Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
* Its founding charter warns that Islam will "eliminate" Israel just as it eliminated crusader kingdoms of the Middle Ages.
* Israeli warplanes killed Sheikh Yassin as he left a mosque in Gaza in March 2004. His successor, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, was assassinated by Israel a month later.

- REUTERS