« "Why Theo Van Gogh Was Murdered" | Main | Iran nuclear missile, Is It The Sharab-3 Already Developed? »

November 18, 2004

Honest Accounting of Arafat's Fortune a Must

Topics: Middle East News and Perspectives

Review - reported in Aljazeera yesterday:

....... The French government dispatched an honor guard last Thursday to escort Yasser Arafat's earthly remains from French soil to a plane bound for the Middle East. But if France and the other nations of Europe truly want to honor the Palestinian people, the European Union will conduct a public autopsy of Arafat's finances to ensure that money that belongs to the Palestinian public isn't illegally bestowed on his widow and daughter.

Arafat's body was still cooling when the Palestinian Authority cut a deal with Arafat's widow, Suha, granting her $20 million plus another $500,000 a year for life. This is rumored to be ransom money that the authority must pay Suha for information regarding Arafat's "personal" finances.

........... But rumors -- and Suha's alleged favors to Arafat's people -- aren't good enough. That money -- estimates range from $300 million to $3 billion -- doesn't belong to Suha.

Europe must help Palestinians repatriate their inheritance

For over 40 years, Arafat conflated the political fortunes of the Palestinian people with his own political fortune -- and he commingled their money with his. There is a word for nations that exist without governments (anarchy), but there is no word for what the Palestinian Authority always was under Arafat: A corrupt state bureaucracy without a country. France speaks out about something worthwhile.......

Posted by Hyscience at November 18, 2004 11:40 AM

Articles Related to Middle East News and Perspectives:

• Honest Accounting of Arafat's Fortune a Must - Nov 18, 2004