CAIRO: The Arab League condemned as “reprehensible” yesterday a decision by the European Union to suspend aid to the new Palestinian government formed by Islamic militant group Hamas after its January poll win.

“This decision is totally unacceptable,” the League’s assistant secretary general for Palestinian affairs, Mohamed Sobeih, told reporters in Cairo.

“It’s strange and reprehensible ... that the Palestinian people are punished for being undemocratic and also punished for exercising democracy.”

Sobeih, who is himself Palestinian, said the EU’s move to cut direct aid to the Hamas-led government sworn in late last month “falls within a policy of collective punishment against the Palestinian people.”

Foreign ministers of the 25-nation bloc, which is by far the Palestinian Authority’s biggest donor, confirmed the aid suspension at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.

EU officials denied the move amounted to “blackmail” against the Hamas-led government for failing to heed demands to renounce violence and recognise Israel, and insisted humanitarian aid to ordinary Palestinians would continue.

Sobeih said Arab League chief Amr Moussa had sent urgent appeals to the pan-Arab bloc’s 21 other members to honour pledges of substitute financing for the Palestinian Authority made at a summit in Khartoum last month.

Palestinian Finance Minister Omar Abdelrazek said on Monday that Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had pledged $80mn between them.

“We have received pledges from the Arab world that will help us operate for several months,” the minister told his Hamas movement’s website.

l Halting aid to the Palestinian government is a mistake, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday, Interfax news agency reported.

Lavrov said Russia would not be halting aid but he said Hamas must meet the demands of international mediators.

“But in order for that to happen, we need to work with Hamas, and not boycott them,” Interfax quoted Lavrov as saying.

Lavrov said that it was wrong to deny aid to the Palestinians “purely because in democratic elections they elected a government made up entirely out of Hamas members.”

“We are convinced that this approach is mistaken.”

Norway yesterday responded to criticism of the government’s weekend decision to withhold funding to the Palestinian government saying the situation in the Palestinian Territories was “very serious.”

International Development Minister Erik Solheim insisted however that Oslo would continue to provide funding to the Palestinian people via non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the UN.

Several Norwegian NGOs have questioned the decision, announced over the weekend by Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store, that Norway would halt all payments to the Palestinian government.

Norwegian Church Aid, the Norwegian Refugee Council and the Norwegian People’s Aid had described the decision as “unfortunate,” claiming that a cut of funding could “lead to more instability.”

The NGOs noted that Norway had a responsibility to promote dialogue as chair of the 12-member committee of donor countries to the Palestinians (AHLC), and the international observer force in Hebron (TIPH).

Solheim said Norway would strive to ensure that bilateral aid programmes would continue as far as possible, in order “to avoid conveying the impression that Western countries do not respect the result of a democratic election.”

Echoing remarks by his cabinet colleague Store, Solheim said Oslo was waiting to see what route the Hamas-led Palestinian government takes.

The foreign minister had said in an article in the Dagbladet newspaper on Monday that Oslo provides about 500mn kroner ($77mn) to the Palestinians a year. About a fifth of that sum has in the past been transferred directly to the Palestinian Authority. – Agencies