GAZA CITY Gaza Strip AP Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority on Tuesday disputed a published report asserting it had spent money earmarked for low-income housing on luxury apartments for wealthy Arafat associates. ``I don't see any corruption in housing'' Palestinian Housing Minister Abdel Rahman Hamad said in response to a report in the Sunday Times of London. The report came a day before a Washington conference of international donors at which more than 43 nations pledged a total of more than dlrs 3 billion in aid to the Palestinians. Palestinian officials feared the allegations coupled with previous findings of corruption would dampen enthusiasm for providing aid. At a news conference the Palestinian housing minister said low-income Palestinians were indeed the chief beneficiaries of subsidized housing in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He said 90 percent of the buyers of 922 European Union-funded housing units in Gaza had incomes of less than dlrs 600 a month. He acknowledged that buyers did include some Arafat associates who returned from exile with the start of Palestinian autonomy in the Gaza Strip. But he said the application process for purchasing the units had been open to all and that apartment sales were carried out under joint EU supervision. Hamad also called the newspaper's description of luxury features at some of the EU-funded apartments unfair. He said the units were built according to simple basic specifications and that extras like satellite dishes and custom-styling came at the expense of individual owners. The report also suggested that the units were unusually spacious but the housing minister said their size 90 to 100 square meters was normal for Palestinian families which tend to be large. Of those living in housing built with European Union backing in Gaza Hamad said 136 were unemployed 193 worked in the private sector 55 were employed by non-governmental organizations 48 worked for the United Nations 189 worked for civilian ministries in the Palestinian Authority and 301 were employed by the Palestinian security forces. At the donor conference U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said disbursement of American funds would be closely monitored. Hamad said the Palestinians welcomed the scrutiny. ``We don't want donors to use this worry over corruption as an excuse not to provide aid'' he said. APW19981201.0108.txt.body.html APW19981201.1180.txt.body.html