(Washington Free Beacon) Adam Kredo - PA President Mahmoud Abbas has allegedly deposited nearly $13 million in U.S. taxpayer aid into a secret bank account, according to testimony presented to the House Foreign Affairs Committee Tuesday by several Middle East experts during a hearing on "Corruption within the Palestinian Political Establishment." Abbas has enriched himself during his seven years in office through secret land deals, and helped his two sons earn millions through their stakes in companies that profit from U.S. assistance, the experts said. Elliott Abrams, a former national security adviser for George W. Bush, recounted, "I can tell you from my own experience, as an American official seeking financial assistance for the PA from Gulf Arab governments, that I was often told, 'Why should we give them money when their officials will just steal it?'" "We have not one program dedicated to fighting corruption and to assisting those Palestinians who are doing so," Abrams said. "Why do we not make it a stated and central goal of our aid?"
2012-07-12 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive