The Obama administration on Friday called on the international community to support the Palestinian Authority, saying the authority led by Mahmoud Abbas is a reliable partner for peace in the Middle East.

"I call on all nations that wish to see a strong, viable Palestinian state, living in peace and security with its neighbors, to join us in supporting the Palestinian Authority," said US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Washington.

At a press conference with the visiting Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Secretary Clinton announced the United States offers 200 million dollars direct budget assistance to the Palestinian Authority.

The assistance is a part of the 900 million dollars pledge for 2009 that Clinton announced at the March 2 donors' conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to address the immediate needs of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"The Palestinian Authority has proven to be a reliable partner for peace," according to the secretary, the international support for the authority is "critical" for the Palestinian people, for the future of a Palestinian state, for the future security of Israel and for the region.

The United States hopes that the support will "help foster conditions in which a Palestinian state can be fully realized, a state that is a responsible partner, is at peace with Israel and its Arab neighbors, accountable to its people," said Clinton.

At the Sharm el Sheikh donors' conference, the international community pledged to offer more than 4.4 million dollars for the Palestinian Authority in supporting the Palestinian economy and the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip after massive military conflict between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement of Hamas.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, backed by the United States, dissolved the unity government comprised of Hamas and his Fatah party last June and named Salam Fayyad as prime minister in the new government.

Hamas, who has repeatedly vowed to destroy Israel, denied the legitimacy of any new Palestinian government without the approval of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). It took control of the PLC when it overwhelmingly won parliamentary elections in March 2007.

Regarding Hamas as a terrorist group, the United States had cut off all contacts and aid to the Hamas-dominated unity government.