Saudis: U.S. paved way for Hamas victory
By Claude Salhani
Jan 28, 2006, 19:00 GMT
WASHINGTON, DC, United States (UPI) -- A confidential Saudi report prepared just weeks before the Palestinian elections predicted a Hamas victory in Gaza and the West Bank and puts the blame on the United States: \'By failing to strengthen (President Mahmoud )Abbas`s position, the U.S. has paved the way for a Hamas victory,\' states a document prepared by the Saudi National Security Assessment Project.
\'Moreover, the U.S administration`s faith in the power of elections to transform people makes it oblivious to the possibility that the democratic process is often a double-edged sword which can have unintended consequences,\' goes on to say the policy brief delivered last Dec. 27 by the SNSAP`s director, Nawaf Obaid.
Furthermore, the brief states that the U.S. failed to press \'Abbas to implement his commitments to security and disarmament, and has not succeeded in convincing donor nations to fulfill their pledges for financial assistance to the Palestinians.\'
Obaid`s study anticipated that the Palestinian elections set for January 25, 2006 \'will in all probability result in a victory for Hamas.\'
\'Such an outcome would have wide ranging implications for Saudi Arabia`s national security and emerging foreign policy in the region,\' warned the confidential brief made available to United Press International, adding that \'the Palestinians face dire social welfare needs not addressed by the current government.\'
Recent surveys conducted by the Saudi National Security Assessment Project indicate that there is deep distrust of senior officials in the Palestinian Authority, most of whom are Fatah members. \'This situation has created an opportunity that Hamas has been able to exploit.\'
The brief cites United Nations statistics indicating that \'almost 75 percent of Palestinians live below the poverty line.\'
Given that Hamas operates \'extensive social services infrastructure that includes schools, orphanages, mosques, healthcare clinics, and soup kitchens,\' basic services that the Palestinian Authority under Yasser Arafat and later Abbas, often failed to provide anything approaching Hamas` services.