US launches plan to help Hamas opponents

The United States has quietly started a campaign projected to cost up to USD 42 million to

bolster Hamas' political opponents ahead of possible early Palestinian elections, say officials linked to the program.

The plan to promote alternatives to Hamas includes funding to help restructure President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah group and provide training and strategic advice to politicians and secular parties opposed to Hamas Islamists.

"This project supports (the) objective to create democratic alternatives to authoritarian or radical Islamist political options," said one official US document obtained by Reuters.

The US campaign coincides with signs that Abbas is considering sacking the government led by Hamas, which defeated Fatah in January elections, in a process that could lead to a new parliamentary vote.

US Officials and consultants say the effort is being conducted without fanfare in order to protect the Palestinians who are receiving US Help -- some already branded by Hamas leaders as collaborators with Washington and Israel.

"We don't operate with firecrackers and neon signs to attract attention to ourselves," said one of the contractors working with Fatah on behalf of the US State Department.

US Money would also be used to encourage "watchdog" groups and local journalists to monitor Hamas activities, while up to USD 5 million would support private Palestinian schools offering an alternative to the Hamas-controlled public education system. Most of the programs are described in the documents as new.

In a response to Reuters US Consul General Jacob Walles said "there is nothing new here." The documents seen by Reuters refer repeatedly to new programs that began in recent weeks.

"We are not promoting any particular party. In fact, we will work with any party as long as it is not affiliated with a terrorist organization." There would be no direct funding of parties, he stressed.

Hamas accusations

Some Hamas leaders have accused Abbas and Fatah of serving the interests of Israel's ally, the United States, which has led a Western aid embargo to force Hamas to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept past accords with the Jewish state.

Washington is also helping Abbas expand his presidential guard as a possible counterweight to Hamas.

There was no immediate reaction from Hamas to the US plan.

In US budget terms, USD 42 million is a small amount, but in the cash-strapped Gaza Strip and West Bank, it could go a long way -- over three times the total spent by the main parties and candidates in the January election.

Ahead of that election, the United States tried to help the then Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, but critics said the push came too late to assist the long-dominant movement, which was handicapped by infighting and accusations of corruption.

The US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) said it recently began talks with the leaders of Fatah and other parties about how they could improve their performance in any election.

Michael Murphy, who runs NDI operations in the West Bank and Gaza, said the focus for now was on internal party reform, but that the program, in close coordination with the State Department, would also look for ways to help Fatah and others get their message across to voters.

The International Republican Institute also recently received funds for a new program to give training and strategic advice to several Palestinian independent parties, though it said politicians would not get direct financial help.

"We're hammering into them they need to start organizing now," said Scott Mastic, deputy director of the Institute's Middle East and North Africa division. "There could be another election. It should be an incentive to them to get moving and get their act together," he said.

US contractors and Palestinian political analysts say Fatah can learn from Hamas's electoral strategy by running fewer candidates per district and also by fielding women door-to-door, since they can enter more conservative households.

One group, the Arab Thought Forum, said it had been approached by Washington to help two months ago, but that it turned down funding for a program that would have meant excluding Hamas politicians.

"We couldn't be in a position not to recognize a government elected by the people," said director general Abdel Rahman Abu Arafeh. "So we are not receiving any US money."