By Miral Fahmy
DUBAI, April 26 (Reuters) - Wealthy
Gulf Arab states will not let Hamas ministers go home empty-handed, wary
that Shi'ite Iran might gain influence by filling the funding vacuum faced
by the new Islamist Palestinian government, analysts said.
Yet the Gulf states are in a bind.
They have historically supported the Palestinian cause, one that has deep popular resonance across the region. They are also U.S. allies, with vital security and trade links to Washington.
Gulf states looked on with trepidation when Iran became one of the first nations to pledge money to the Hamas government after the United States and Europe began to choke off funding.
Already nervous about Iran's nuclear programme and influence in Iraq, Sunni rulers in the Gulf are loathe to see Tehran gain leverage in the Middle East's thorniest conflict, analysts said.
"Gulf countries cannot let Iran be the only financier for Hamas," said Abdel-Khaleq Abdullah, a political commentator in the United Arab Emirates. "It would be a big mistake."
Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar toured several Gulf states this week to drum up funds for the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority, so far netting donations from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar. Iran has already donated $50 million.
It is not clear how the money can be transferred to the Authority in view of the reluctance of Arab and other banks to risk falling foul of U.S. laws against funding groups such as Hamas, which Washington classifies as terrorist.
The United States and the European Union have cut off direct aid to the Palestinian government over Hamas's refusal to recognise Israel, renounce violence and honour past peace deals.
Gulf states, now flush with funds from record high oil prices, have pumped cash into health care, education and even Palestinian Authority coffers over the years.
"Arab states will not cut funding to the Palestinian people, regardless of whether they agree or disagree with the policies of their government," said Saudi analyst Daoud al-Shiryan.
GULF QUANDARY
But Hamas's landslide victory this year has put many of them in a tricky position, especially Saudi Arabia, which is battling its own brand of militant Islam and trying to shed its image aomg some in the West as a source of terrorist financing.
"Hamas is a benchmark for Islamist groups in the region," Shiryan said. "Their success or failure will depend on outside help, yet it puts those offering this help in an awkward position of indirectly supporting a militant group."
Hamas' rejection of peace deals adds to the Gulf's quandary -- Qatar has low-level ties with Israel and Saudi Arabia has championed a proposal, endorsed by all Arab states, for peace with Israel if it leaves land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war and makes way for an independent Palestinian state.
"Hamas's policies about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict are illogical," said Kuwaiti Islamist author Khalil Haidar, referring to its refusal to endorse a two-state solution.
"Once they realise they cannot inhabit a different dimension from the rest of the Arab governments, then the funds will start flowing in earnest. But now, they're embarrassing the Arabs."
The Gulf states may want to counter Iranian influence by funding the Palestinian Authority, but their political differences with Hamas, as well as U.S. pressure, mean they are likely to make such donations without fanfare.
"Gulf states want to avoid negative press, especially in the United States where critics are quick to seize upon anything that would tarnish their image. They don't like to go public with this sort of aid," said Saudi writer Khaled al-Dakheel.
Zahar says Saudi Arabia has given $90 million in aid and Kuwait $7.9 million. Neither government has confirmed this.
Hamas is also banking on the resounding sympathy of ordinary Arabs with the plight of the Palestinians.
In Yemen, one of the stops on Zahar's tour and the poorest Gulf Arab nation, the government set up a bank account where the public can deposit donations.
"If Gulf governments stop funding the Palestinians, the people will not, and this will herald a return to chaos," said a Gulf-based analyst who declined to be named.
He was referring to clandestine networks used in the past to channel money from charitable Gulf donors to Arab militants, such as Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
(Reporting by Miral Fahmy; editing by Alistair Lyon)