Norway freezes budget support to PA government

Norway will freeze its support to the Palestinian authorities until the Hamas-led government meets the international community's conditions for restoring aid, a Norwegian foreign ministry spokesman said Sunday. "Like most other countries, we have not paid any direct support to the Palestinian authorities since Hamas came to power," Frode Overland Andersen said. "The money is there. We are awaiting a political solution, that is Hamas must meet the international community's criteria for restoring aid which are a recognition of Israel, renunciation of violence and acceptance of existing peace agreements," added Andersen.