RAMALLAH - Arab states have cut financial aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) so far this year, according to PA figures seen by Reuters, and the United Nations has warned of a looming Palestinian cash crisis. "The Arabs are not paying. We urge them to meet their financial pledges," said Saleh Rafat, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's executive committee and one of the few Palestinian officials willing to speak out on the matter. Arab government officials contacted by Reuters declined to comment on the issue. The failure of some wealthy Arab states to pay up is frustrating Western governments, which are big contributors to the Palestinian territories, and leaving officials in the West Bank with a budget headache. Some Palestinian officials speculate Arab states might be withholding the cash to try to persuade the Palestinian factions Fatah, which controls the West Bank, and Hamas, which controls Gaza, towards reconciliation. In the last three years, the most Arab states have paid in any one year was $525.9 million, contributed in 2008, the figures show. Gulf oil exporters Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been the main Arab contributors since 2007. But in 2010, both have fallen well short of previous support. This year Saudi Arabia had paid $30.6 million by August, compared to $241.1 million in 2009. The United Arab Emirates, which contributed $173.9 million in 2009, has yet to pay anything.
