Brussels, 06/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - Reacting to declarations made on Sunday, by Israeli Minister Dani Naveh by which the Palestinian Authority is said to have used $9 million taken from EU aid to pay the salaries of Fatah terrorists, a European Commission spokesperson said in substance on Monday that the Commission took these allegations very seriously and would examine whether they are well-founded in the light of documents that Israel would like to hand over, "which has not yet been the case". Mr. Wiegand recalled that the use of aid provided by the European Union was strictly conditioned and was the subject of extremely rigorous controls carried out by the IMF. In addition, the Spanish Ambassador to the UN, Inocencio Arias, told the United Nations Security Council last week that the European Union deplored the fact that the UN should not have been able to undertake the "fact-finding mission" planned for the Palestinian refugee camp of Jenin, under the leadership of former Finnish President Martti Ahtissari. Israel "claims to have nothing to hide", but the lack of any enquiry into the events of Jenin will remain obscure, he declared at a public meeting of the UN Security Council. You may recall that Kofi Annan decided last Thursday to call off the mission.
Regarding the damage to the Palestinian infrastructures caused by Israeli military operations, Mr. Arias announced that the "Fifteen reserve the right to demand compensations in appropriate fora", and considered that the interruption of basic social structures, "which do not interfere with security", is not justified by Israel in the fight against terrorism.
In addition, Reuters says from Tel Aviv that the Association of Israeli manufacturers has said that its members had lodged several dozen complaints against the boycott of their products in Europe.