MAARIV: Report: Germany mulling cutting aid to PA

Amidst corruption allegations and a leadership crisis, German politicians are calling for measures to be taken against the government of Yasser Arafat, including a freezing of European Union aid.

The foreign policy spokesman for the ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD), Gert Weisskirchen, has told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper that EU foreign ministers should stop financial aid payments to the Palestinian Authority if the power fight in the government gets any worse. "This is an instrument with which we can support the constructive powers in Palestine," Weisskirchen argued.

Conservatives have also called for more controls on financial aid payments to the Palestinians. Armin Laschet, a member of the European Parliament representing the Christian Democratic Union, told the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper that the EU has committed "grave errors" in its funding of President Arafat.

Between 2000 and 2003, the EU has wired €10 million a month to the Palestinian Authority without proper controls, he said. Laschet, who is co-chair of the parliamentary committee responsible for oversight of the EU's Palestinian aid, also alleged that the Palestinians had been using the funds illegally.

Allegations that Arafat misappropriated international funds emerged earlier this week when German public broadcaster ARD ran a report with documents showing that Arafat wired $5.1 million in September 2001 to a personal account at the Arab Bank in Cairo.