The Gaza Reconstruction Conference held yesterday in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh pledged US$ 3 billion from international donors to help the Palestinian economy in general and the reconstruction of the sector in particular. President Hosni Mubarak linked the reconstruction process with many considerations, the first of which is to reach a truce that ensures the opening of the crossings for the safe passage of the reconstruction material. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the US$ 900 million in aid that her administration has promised the Palestinians will not go to Hamas. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi proposed to host in Sicily the final negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis in the event two countries would be established. Mubarak pointed out that reconstruction was a key factor of the Egyptian initiative to stop the aggression on Gaza. He said priority now is for reaching a truce in the sector despite Israel's backtracking on its previous positions. He added that the reconstruction process also depends on achieving reconciliation between the Palestinian Authority and the factions, the formation of a national unity government to oversee the reconstruction in coordination with the Palestinian National Authority and a mechanism that ensures the confidence of the international donors and carries out reconstruction with transparency and accountability. Presidency Spokesman Suleiman Awad said that President Mubarak is invited to go to Washington and that he will do so in a timely manner, pointing out that it is premature to confirm if his visit would be in April.
