A US District Court in Rhode Island froze all assets of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the United States. The move came after the PA refused to pay a $116 million judgment awarded to the family of the late Yaron Ungar, who along with his wife Efrat, was killed in a Hamas terrorist attack during a visit to Israel in 1996. The head of the PA's office in Washington, DC, Hasan Abdel Rahman, has asked the US government to intervene, claiming that he is unable to pay his office staff. "It paralyzes the function of the office, and I think that is the intention of the plaintiffs," Rahman said. Keeping the office open is in the best interests of the United States, said Rahman, adding that President George W. Bush feels the same way.