PNA slams U.S. Congress vote to reduce aid

RAMALLAH, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Foreign Relations Advisor Nabil Shaath slammed on Wednesday the U.S. House of Representatives' vote to reduce annual aid to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

The bill is "a criminal act that is rejected on all Palestinian levels," Shaath told Xinhua.

"The U.S. has been threatening for a while to stop its aid to pressure the Palestinian Authority to stop the salaries of detainees and martyrs," he added.

The advisor described the step as "absolute bias toward Israeli side," saying it "completely ends any role of Washington as an honest broker of the peace process."

The U.S. House of Representatives voted Tuesday to reduce the 300-million-U.S.-dollar annual aid unless the PNA stops paying salaries to families of Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails and families of those killed by Israeli forces.

The U.S. Senate is expected to pass the law, but it does not take effect until it is signed by President Donald Trump.

Tensions have been mounting in Palestine after this step and Trump's intention to move the U.S. embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Media reports said Trump has informed leaders of Israel, Jordan and Egypt of his intention to move the embassy to Jerusalem.

Last month, the U.S. government shut down the office of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Washington, a step that the Palestinians called "punitive." Enditem