Palestinian Affairs: Abbas's latest headaches
Khaled Abu Toameh , THE JERUSALEM POST Mar. 27, 2008
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Almost every morning for the past few weeks, Palestinians have been waking
up to yet another scandal involving top leaders of Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction.

The scandals are seen by many Palestinians as further evidence that Fatah
still has a long way to go before ridding itself of all the icons of
corruption who continue to hold key positions in the faction. Moreover, they
coincide with public opinion polls indicating a rise in Hamas's popularity
among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The latest wave of scandals is one of the results of a bitter power struggle
that has been raging for some time among senior Fatah leaders in Ramallah.
Fatah operatives in the city said this week that the power struggle was "one
of the ugliest" the faction has known in many years.

"The dirty laundry is beginning to hang out," commented one of the
officials. "If all the stories that are being published these days are
correct, Fatah has a very serious problem."

Remarked another Fatah representative: "Fatah has lost much of what's left
of its credibility. If we hold a free election in the West Bank tomorrow,
it's almost certain that Hamas will win."

Though Fatah claims it has drawn the conclusions from its defeat in the
January 2006 parliamentary election, the faction has failed to distance
itself from most of the corrupt figures who were responsible for Hamas's
victory at the ballot boxes. In addition, many top Fatah leaders who were
responsible for Hamas's violent takeover of the entire Gaza Strip in June
2007 continue to hold senior posts and represent their faction in local and
international forums.

THE MOST serious scandal involves former PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, who
currently heads the Palestinian negotiating team with Israel. According to a
document released by PA ambassador to Romania, Adli Sadek, Qurei deposited
$3 million of PLO funds into his private bank account.

Qurei was forced to publish a strong denial in the Palestinian media. While
admitting that he did take the money, Qurei said he transferred the sum to a
PLO bank account. He added that the $3m. were part of a $5m. investment that
had been deposited in a bank account under Yasser Arafat's name.

Qurei has also been forced to deny charges that he and his sons own a cement
factory that has been supplying concrete for the construction of Israel's
West Bank security fence and new homes in Jewish settlements in the West
Bank.

Qurei is convinced that some of his rivals in Fatah are trying to discredit
him so as to destroy his chances of emerging as potential successor to
Abbas, whose term in office expires early next year. Sources close to Qurei
have named former Fatah security commander Muhammad Dahlan and top PLO
official Yasser Abed Rabbo as those behind the "smear campaign." Qurei has
demanded that Fatah take disciplinary measures against the two, vowing to
file libel suits against all those who try to damage his reputation.

Another scandal that erupted last weekend involves Rouhi Fattouh, former
speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council who currently serves as
Abbas's "personal representative and adviser."

Fattouh is suspected of exploiting his Israeli-issued VIP pass to smuggle
thousands of cellular phones from Jordan into the West Bank. He was caught
by Israeli custom officers at the Allenby Bridge. Denying any link to the
phones that were found in his vehicle, Fattouh chose to blame his driver for
the botched smuggling attempt.

However, Fattouh's denial did not leave a positive impression on his boss,
who rushed to suspend him from his job pending a criminal investigation.
Sources close to the investigation claim that other top Fatah leaders were
part of a network that specialized in smuggling various goods across the
border.

Also this week, the Fatah-dominated security forces announced that they had
confiscated large shipments of expired medicine that had been illegally
smuggled into the West Bank. Dozens of physicians, pharmacists and officials
from the PA's Ministry of Health are currently being interrogated for their
alleged role in the medicine scandal, which is believed to have resulted in
the death of many patients.

As if all this were not enough, Abbas's prosecutor-general, Ahmed al-Mughni,
announced this week that he had ordered an investigation against Khaled
Salam, who for many years served as Arafat's "financial adviser."

The probe was launched following reports that the adviser was planning to
invest at least $600m. in a tourist project in the resort town of Aqaba in
Jordan. Although Salam does not hold any official position in the PA, he is
known to have close relations with Abbas and many of his aides.

Further evidence of the turmoil in Fatah was provided over the weekend when
the faction's representative, Azzam Al-Ahmed, signed a "unity" agreement
with Hamas in the Yemeni capital of San'a. Hours after the agreement was
announced, a number of senior Fatah leaders in Abbas's office announced that
Ahmed had not been authorized to sign the deal.

In response, Ahmed accused his critics of lying, saying they were apparently
unaware of the fact that he had received a green light from the PA
leadership to strike the deal with Hamas. Other Fatah officials, however,
chose to back Ahmed's claim, further exacerbating tensions in Abbas's
office.

Apart from Hamas, if anyone stands to gain from the internal squabbling in
Fatah it's Salaam Fayad, the independent prime minister who, according to
unconfirmed reports, may run in the next presidential election. But Fayad
may soon learn that the path won't be as smooth as he thinks, as many Fatah
operatives are already working hard to block him.