By Martin Banks - 11th May 2009
The EU has been urged to "honour its commitment" to support a project aimed at bringing peace in the Middle East.
Ronald Mollinger, director of the Oman-based Middle East desalination research centre, says the EU has reneged on its promise to give financial support to the water project.
He says that when the centre opened in 1996 the commission agreed to join as a board member and make a financial contribution of some USD1m.
"That has not materialised in any way, shape or form and that is very disappointing," he said.
The centre provides a 'platform' for researchers, including those from Israel and Palestine, to find ways of providing safe, clean drinking water in the region, one of the most arid parts of the world.
Mollinger said, "We received USD18m funding when we launched but that has now almost been exhausted and we are currently looking at alternative methods of funding.
"That is something we are going to have to address very soon but what I find puzzling is the EU's failure to honour its commitment to support us and provide financial support.
"The commission will have its own reasons for this but I would hope it will reconsider its decision not to back what is generally accepted to be a unique attempt to bring peace to a very troubled part of the world."
Mollinger, a former Dutch diplomat who took up his current post a month ago, added, "I hope that the new incoming commission will give fresh impetus to this issue."
He said that other founding members, including the US, Japan and Korea, had all provided financial support to the centre which was set up as part of the Mid-East peace process in the late 1990s.
Former US vice president Al Gore is among those who have praised the work done by the centre, both in water desalination technology and in terms of bringing Jews and Palestines together.
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