Arab Bank Says Hamas Has No Accounts At Any Of Its Branches

The Amman-based Arab Bank on Wednesday denied reports that the Palestinian ruling Hamas group had deposited 35 million dollars at one of its branches in Egypt.

"Hamas has no accounts at any of the Arab Bank branches, be they inside or outside the Palestinian territories," the Arab Bank said in a statement.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh was permitted by the Israeli authorities to return to the Gaza Strip after a regional tour on Friday on the condition that he left behind 35 million dollars of donations he collected during his trip.

According to Arab media, the amount was deposited earlier this week at one of the Arab Bank branches in Egypt.

"The Arab Bank operates in a transparent manner and abides by the rules of the respective central banks and supervision bodies," the statement said.

The Arab Bank, one of the Arab world's largest establishments, managed to evade two lawsuits that were filed against its branches in New York two years ago by relatives of people who were killed in suicide bombings carried out by Hamas activists in Israel.

The bank then denied charges that it acted as a channel for laundering and transferring donations to the hard-line movement.

With this in the background, Jordanian and other Arab Banks so far refused to transfer funds to any of the Palestinian factions in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to avoid sanctions by the United States and other countries which halted aid to the Palestinian Authority after a Hamas-led administration took up responsibilities in March.

© 2006 DPA

http://www.playfuls.com/news_10_5750-Arab-Bank-Says-Hamas-Has-No-Accounts-At-Any-Of-Its-Branches.html