Business As Usual

Revealing what he and only he knows represents a truly intriguing prospect.  And Mohammed Rashid has promised to reveal some purportedly unsavoury background details that he is intimately aware of, as the former financial aide to Yasser Arafat.  Acting as his moneyman.  Now he faces charges of having siphoned off millions in public funds.

Mr. Rashid strenuously denies that he himself has done anything untoward.  He claims he has secrets that he could, and just might divulge that would be enormously deleterious to Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority.  Obliquely hinting that Mr. Abbas's rise to power has some quite problematical issues behind it.

And while anti-corruption campaigners are eager to proceed with the case against Mr. Rashid, there is also the undercurrent that he is being pursued as much through a personal political vendetta as for the legitimate reason of probing his activities when he was entrusted by Mr. Arafat with the finances of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

Rafik Natche, head of the Palestinian Anti-Corruption Commission, has confirmed that the Palestinian Authority has requested that Jordan, Egypt, Montenegro, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates freeze Mr. Rashid's assets present in those countries, and to take steps to extradite him.  Although no one is quite certain where he is at present.

There had always been rumours that implicated Yasser Arafat in the disappearance of vast sums of money that fell into the hands of the PLO.  Yasser Arafat's wife, before his death, is said to have availed herself of millions of PLO money.  To fund her lavish lifestyle, living in a manner befitting the status and acclaim given her husband, while he was reputed to have lived frugally himself.

Mr. Rashid - who had the trust and the connivance of Mr. Arafat who required large sums of money to buy loyalties and who was aware that many of his associates were corrupt and themselves took whatever financial advantages they could, to enrich themselves - is suspected of having taken millions from the Palestinian Investment Fund and the PLO treasury.

Mohammed Rashid had been a journalist.  He had no business training.  But Yasser Arafat saw fit to place him in charge of the business affairs of the PLO.  He "came to the Palestinian revolution without a penny in his pocket and became a multimillionaire", claimed Mr. Natche.  "Where did he bring his money from?  Of course, this is the money of the Palestinian people."

As for Mr. Rashid, he has given due warning to Mr. Abbas, that he had "made a huge mistake and must suffer the consequences."  Commenting on the Inlightpress website thought to be linked to Mr. Rashid, it was announced that Mr. Rashid would soon run a series of articles relating to the circumstances of Mr. Abbas' rise to power.

A leading anti-corruption campaigner in the West Bank has expressed concern about the manner in which investigation targets have been selected.  Noting that Mr. Rashid is an associate of former Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan, who had a falling out with Mr. Abbas after challenging his leadership.  That connection, according to the campaigner was the impetus "to pursue Rashid as well."

"I think the priorities [for investigation] are being set on a personal basis.  We have concerns that the issue is being handled in a way of settling personal scores."

And, so?  Sounds just like business as usual.