Erekat: At PA’s request, US aid to Palestinian security services ends today

Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee, Saeb Erekat, said Thursday that the US aid to the Palestinian security services will end today at the Palestinian Authority’s request.

Erekat told a press conference in Ramallah that Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah had sent an official letter to the US State Department asking it to end the US funding at the end of January due to the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA) of 2018 which will enter into force on 1 February1.

“We do not want to receive any money if it will cause us to appear before courts,” Erekat said, explaining that under the ATCA, any government that receives funding from the US may be subject to American counter-terrorism laws.

However, Erekat said the PA will continue to participate in the fight against terrorism in the region and noted that the US stopped hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinians last year.

Erekat stressed that the cessation of US aid to the Palestinian security services will not affect their work in 2019.

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