(Hudson Institute New York) Khaled Abu Toameh - Donor countries have yet to respond to revelations by former Palestinian intelligence official Fahmi Shabaneh that some of Mahmoud Abbas' close aides had siphoned off to private bank accounts hundreds of millions of dollars earmarked for financial aid to the Palestinians. "Don't the Americans, Europeans and Arabs care about their money that is being stolen? If they continue to turn a blind eye to the corruption of the Palestinian Authority, Hamas will eventually take over the West Bank the same way they took the Gaza Strip," he says. A former PA minister convinced Abbas and Arafat to give him about $5 million of international aid so that he could purchase land in Jerusalem "before Jews lay their hands on them." Shabaneh's investigations showed that the minister deposited most of the money in his private bank account and built a huge, luxurious villa on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Shabaneh also discovered that a former PA finance minister had deposited $8 million in his private bank account. Shabaneh is now "wanted" by the PA on charges of "collaboration with the Israeli enemy."
2010-02-25 07:29:42Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive