Foreign Minister Jan Petersen has invited the most important donor countries that are providing development assistance to the Palestinian Territory to a meeting in Oslo on 25 April to discuss how the international community can best help the Palestinian people.

- Developments in the Middle East in the last few weeks have made rapid, targeted humanitarian and other assistance especially important, said the Foreign Minister.

He said that the aim of the conference is to get an idea of the immediate need for assistance in the Palestinian areas, coordinate the assistance efforts and mobilize further international assistance. "The conference will be an important part of the international community’s efforts to alleviate the difficult situation the Palestinians are in, and will help to bring the peace process onto a more constructive track," said Mr. Petersen.

The meeting in Oslo is being arranged by the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), which was established in the wake of the Oslo Accords to coordinate economic assistance to the Palestinians. Norway has held the chairmanship of this committee since the very beginning. The other members are the USA, the EU, Japan, Canada, Russia and Saudi Arabia. Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator in the Occupied Territories (UNSCO) are associate members.

The USA will be represented by Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, and Russia by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov. Israel and the Palestinian Authority will be present as observers. The Palestinian delegation will include three ministers –Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Shaath, Minister of Finance Nashashibi and Minister of Trade and Economy Al-Masry.

The meeting will take place at the Grand Hotel. The Norwegian Union of Hotel and Restaurant Workers has granted dispensations for employees at the hotel who are involved in the current strike.

Bilateral working meetings will be held between the delegations on Wednesday 24 April. Foreign Minister Jan Petersen will host a dinner on Wednesday at 19.30 at the Grand hotel, and will be available to the press as from 19.00 at the hotel. A press conference will also be held on Thursday afternoon.

For further inquiries, please contact Elisabeth Salvesen at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 22 24 38 58 or 91 69 15 81.