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Treasury OKs Transactions with Palestinian Authority, But Analysts Stress Caution
By Brian Orsak
printCORRECTION APPENDED The U.S. Treasury Department has lifted restrictions on doing business with the Palestinian group Fatah, one of the two organizations claiming to be the legitimate Palestinian government. The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said June 20 that U.S. companies can do business with the Palestinian Authority government headed by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah party. The U.S. had restricted certain financial transactions, including most types of aid, following Hamas' electoral victory in early 2006. The lessening of restrictions is meant to show U.S. support for Fatah, and follows the division of...
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