US halts payments to UNESCO over Palestinian membership

(BATKHELA-MOVIES)WASHINGTON: The United States said Monday it is stopping financial contributions to UNESCO after the Palestinians were admitted to the organization as a full member.

"We were to have made a 60 million dollar payment to UNESCO in November and we will not be making that payment," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.

Nuland said the Palestinian admission "triggers longstanding (US) legislative restrictions which will compel the United States to refrain from making contributions to UNESCO."

The United States provides about 22 percent of the UNESCO annual budget.

The November payment amounts to a tranche of what US officials say is a total annual US contribution of $80 million (57 million euros) to the UN organization. (AFP)