The United States promised on Saturday to continue humanitarian aid to the Palestinians even if a Hamas-led government takes office.

The U.S. "will continue to be devoted to the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs David Welch said after a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the first high-level meeting between the two sides since Hamas' stunning victory in the Palestinian parliamentary elections last month.

Welch expressed the U.S. support for Abbas and his policies, and praised his speech at inaugural session of the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) on Feb. 18.

"In this critical time facing the Palestinian people, I reaffirmed our confidence in the program that he (Abbas) had laid out before the PLC in his speech where he called for a negotiated two-state solution," Welch said.

The U.S. and the European Union, which consider Hamas as a terrorist organization, have threatened to cut off financial aid to the new Palestinian government to be formed by Hamas unless Hamas renounces violence, recognizes Israel's right to exist and accepts all signed agreements including the roadmap peace plan.

Meanwhile, Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Abbas asked the U.S. to continue financial support to the Palestinians and not to punish them for their democratic choice.

"We asked the U.S. administration to continue with its support and not to enforce collective punishment, which will have disastrous consequences," Erekat said.

Erekat said Welch remarked on the difficulty which the Bush Administration will face in asking Congress to continue financial support to the Palestinians after Hamas takes power.

Source: Xinhua