Abbas Pays Salaries To Hamas Armed Force
Ryan R. Jones - All Headline News Middle East Correspondent Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas this week paid the salaries of some 5,000 members of the Hamas-led government's new Gaza-based security force. Most of the members of the special "operational force" also belong to Hamas's armed wing, Iz al-Din al-Qassam, which has claimed credit for killing and maiming thousands of Israelis. The force has also engaged in numerous clashes with official Palestinian Authority security forces loyal to Abbas amid tension between the PLO chief's Fatah faction and Hamas. But six weeks ago Abbas succeeded in merging the Hamas force into the PA in a compromise deal with the terror group. That merger, which ostensibly brought the gunmen under the protective umbrella of the PA, freed Abbas to use donations from the Arab League to pay the salaries, though he did so from his own office rather than the PA treasury. International economic sanctions in place since Hamas's electoral victory in January forbid the use of foreign aid to pay the salaries of those recognized as terrorists. However, according to Palestinian sources cited by Ha'aretz, European Union supervisors approved this week's payment of the Hamas men.
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