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Captured Documents Detail Iraqi-Palestinian Cooperation

(Ha'aretz) Daniel Sobelman - Documents signed by Yasser Arafat show he was complicit in helping the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLF), headed by its Baghdad-based founder, Mohammed Zaidan (Abu Abbas) and his local representative, Rakad Salem, secretary of the Arab Liberation Front and the Iraqi Ba'ath party in the territories. Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan personally signed the checks and directed the transfer of funds to families of homicide bombers. A handwritten letter signed by Ramadan says, "the intifada is a once-in-a-lifetime historic opportunity to build the Ba'ath organization and expand its organizational base" in the territories. Documents list sums of money ranging from $10,000 to $25,000 given to families of "martyrs." Among the documents is a letter written by Al Quds University President Prof. Sari Nusseibeh to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, asking him to support the university "by allocating some of the money you are sending to Palestine, to Al Quds University." The documents show the PA was a co-funder of the PLF with Iraq. In one document, Abbas asks the PA to renew an arrangement under which the PA paid the rent for PLF offices in a number of West Bank cities. Arafat's handwritten instruction was to the "Finance Ministry - approved." In another case, Arafat personally approved payments to 50 members of the PLF.
2002-10-10 00:00:00
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