Palestinian News Item
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Abbas: PA will not disarm "the Resistance [Hamas]"
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Sada El-Balad TV (Egypt)
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Aug. 23, 2014
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Sada El-Balad TV host: “Mr. President, honestly, and tell me clearly in front of everyone – did Egypt, at any point, say ‘we’ll disarm or agree to disarm the Resistance [Hamas]’?”
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: “It [Egypt] never said that. It was the US Secretary of State who once said that to me … He told me: ‘disarm.’ I told him: ‘Yes, once I have one state, one law, one rifle and one government, then you ask me to disarm. Not now. Give me a state and then I’ll decide.’ Egypt didn’t demand this – Israel did… Since the coup against the PA and to this day, we’ve been transferring more than 50% of our budget to Gaza, including [salaries] to 60-70 thousand civil servants who aren’t working. They are [in Gaza] and are receiving salaries. We pay them, because they’ve been prevented from working. Hamas came [to power after the coup] and appointed other people in their place.”
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