Malaysia said today it would provide aid to the Palestinian government to help ease a financial crisis brought on by an international boycott of the Hamas government.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also said Malaysia would appeal to the United States and other Western countries to change their stand against the Hamas-led administration.

Abdullah, who is the current chairman of the world's biggest grouping of Muslim countries, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said the financial crisis had deepened the suffering of the Palestinian people.

Respect decision

"They need aid from other countries. The Palestinian people should not be punished for their choice of government," he said according to the Bernama news agency, adding that their decision at the ballot box should be respected.

Abdullah did not specify how much aid would be given to the Palestinians, and an official in his office told AFP that the figure would not be released.

The United States and the European Union, the main donor to the Palestinians giving 500 million euros a year, both suspended aid to the Palestinians after the radical Islamic group Hamas won elections in January.

The boycott has left the Palestinian Authority on the verge of bankruptcy.