Brotherhood vows to fund Hamas
2006-02-20 20:31
Cairo - Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood announced on Monday the launch of a fund-raising campaign to support the Palestinians after the United States and Europe threatened to freeze funding for a Hamas-led government.
Brotherhood spokesperson Issam al-Aryan said: "Supporting Hamas is the responsibility of all the peoples of the free world and Arab world and not just the Muslim Brothers because it means supporting the democratic choice of the Palestinian people."
Aryan's comment came just a day after Israel decided to freeze the monthly transfer of millions of dollars in customs duties owed to the Palestinian authority, which amounted to a staggering one-third of the cash-strapped government's budget.
He said that contributions were already being collected through "relief committees all over the world and through the Egyptian Red Crescent and the Arab League".
But popular support in itself, "is not enough and governments must shoulder their responsibilities," said Aryan, as Arab League ministers met in Algeria to discuss granting the Palestinian Authority monthly aid of $50m.