Women's affairs employees suspend protest

A group of female employees of the Ministry of Women's Affairs in the West Bank is suspending a six-day protest over alleged mistreatment and corruption, after union representatives intervened Monday. The women began a hunger strike last Tuesday, and were set to protest in front of the Palestinian Authority cabinet before the Union of Workers requested they halt their strike. While stressing they would respect the union decision, the strikers vowed to continue to protest in a legal manner. They said they maintained their demand that Prime Minister Salam Fayyad overturn a cabinet decision which ruled their allegations against the ministry were baseless. "Those who oppose the law and and try to mislead public opinion against us for their own benefit must be judged," the group said. The women launched their strike with a protest outside the tomb of former President Yasser Arafat, after they said their complaints had been dismissed and they were forced to transfer to another governmental department. PA government spokesman Ghassan Khatib told Gulf News at the time: "The claims and accusations of those employees about administrative and financial corruption along with physical harassment at the Ministry of Women's Affairs are not true, and that they should stop sending such baseless accusations."