[AFP] U.S. lawmakers demanded Thursday that the UN impose tighter controls on aid to the Palestinians to ensure no U.S. funds end up in the pockets of extremists. "The United Nations should take immediate steps to improve the transparency and accountability of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)," said Democratic Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ). Rothman has written a non-binding resolution urging Secretary of State Clinton to certify that "no American taxpayer dollars are being directed to terrorists or to further terrorist propaganda" through UNRWA. The resolution also urges UNRWA to enhance screening procedures, including terrorist name-recognition software, "to ensure that UNRWA staff, volunteers, and beneficiaries are neither terrorists themselves, nor affiliated with known terrorist organizations." Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) blasted UNRWA's accounting practices as likely to enable Hamas to siphon off some of a new U.S. aid pledge of $900 million for the West Bank and Gaza. If the group managed to grab 10% of that package, "the United States taxpayer would be then the number-two financial supporter of Hamas after the government of Iran," he said.
2009-03-06 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive