Palestinian PM's Family Cement Firm 'Helping Build Israeli Wall'
The Scotsman - February 10, 2004
news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2516802

A Palestinian parliamentary committee is investigating whether a cement
company owned by Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia's family has been selling
concrete to Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Palestinian officials said
today.

Israel's Channel 10 TV also reported that the Al-Quds Cement Company - owned
by Qureia's family - has been providing the materials to help build a
contentious West Bank barrier, or security wall, allegations which
Palestinian officials denied.

The TV report said Qureia was providing the cement to build the concrete
slabs right outside his house in Abu Dis, a town near Jerusalem divided by a
25-foot wall.

The Palestinian premier was on a trip to Ireland and was unavailable for
comment.

Later Qureia travelled to Rome where he met Italian Premier Silvio
Berlusconi. Both men made brief statements after their talks but did not
take questions from reporters.

Television footage showed cement mixers leaving the Al-Quds company and
driving to the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim, just a few miles away.

A Palestinian MP said there was "evidence" that Qureia was selling cement to
Maale Adumim. He said Qureia transferred ownership of the company to another
member of his family just a few months ago.

The MP said this strengthened suspicions that Qureia was involved in
improper activities.

Qureia is one of the most vocal opponents of Jewish settlements and the
barrier and he is leading a Palestinian effort to garner global support for
the Palestinian position.

Israel says the barrier is needed to prevent Palestinian suicide bombers
from entering the country, but the structure dips into the West Bank in some
areas, leading Palestinians to condemn it as a land grab.

Palestinian MP Jamal Shati, a member of a parliamentary committee that is
going to Jordan and Egypt on Thursday to investigate whether Palestinian
cement companies are providing Israel with material for the barrier, denied
Qureia was part of the investigation.

"But when we open the issue of the concrete it will include everything, not
only the wall but also the settlements, because building the settlements is
the same as building the wall. There is no difference," Shati said.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Jamil Tarifi is also among those being
investigated, said Palestinian officials.