Palestinians need $650 million by June - UN

The Palestinian Authority needs $650 million in foreign aid by June and an international meeting in Oslo next month will try to raise some of the funds, the UN envoy in the Middle East said yesterday.

Terje Roed-Larsen, special representative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said the meeting on December 7 and 8 would have symbolic importance as the first of its kind this year to bring Israelis and Palestinians together.

"This meeting will be important not only for the symbolic reason... but also because the Palestinian Authority is in dire need of budgetary support," he told a news conference after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

"They will need about $650 million before June next year and this meeting will be crucial in order to contribute to the underpinning of the Palestinian Authority," he said without elaborating on the budgetary needs.

The Palestinian Authority is facing severe financial crisis due to falling tax revenues during four years of violence which paralysed the Palestinian economy.