January 27, 2006

Next Stop for Don Regalón?

This FT story got me thinking.
A financial crisis will push the Palestinian territories into chaos in a matter of days if Israel and international donors cut financial ties with the Palestinian Authority following the surprise election win by Hamas, James Wolfensohn, the international community's special envoy to the region, warned on Friday.

"The crunch time is next week," said Mr Wolfensohn, the former head of the World Bank. "The Palestinians are basically bankrupt." He said there was no money to pay salaries of Palestinian security forces or civil servants. "If you do not have the money to pay 135,000 Palestinians you are going to have chaos."

Hmmmm...lets puzzle this one through. A radical anti-American, pro-Iranian movement, in power and flat broke. If you were in their shoes, who would you turn to for quick cash?

Hey, I'm not saying it'll happen...but if it does...remember where you read it first.