Posted on 11/04/2004 3:28:29 PM PST by abu afak
Mrs. Arafat keeps husband on life support
Where's his money?
""""He is Dead, but neither Arafat's wife nor the Palestinian leadership is ready to announce this," a PA official said. "The announcement could take place on Friday." ...
The problem is that Arafat is still the only Palestinian official who can pay the bills. .. And it is unclear who, if anyone, has access to the estimated $2-3 billion in his Personal Swiss bank accounts, according to a report in the current edition of Geostrategy-Direct.com. Even his Wife is said to be unaware of how to access the funds.""""
Special to World Tribune.com GEOSTRATEGY-DIRECT.COM Thursday, November 4, 2004 RAMALLAH — Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has died. He was 75 years old.
Israeli and Palestinian officials said Arafat died on Thursday in a military hospital in Paris. They said Arafat was deemed clinically dead, but is still attached to life support systems on the insistence of his wife, Suha.
Palestinan Authority's Yasser Arafat: Abbas and Qurei sought to acquire his power to allocate money as the PA chairman departed for Paris. But as he boarded a Jordanian Air Force helicopter, Arafat refused. "I'm still alive, thank God, so don't worry," Arafat was quoted as saying. Reuters/Loay Abu Haykel
"He is dead, but neither Arafat's wife nor the Palestinian leadership is ready to announce this," a PA official said. "The announcement could take place on Friday."
The problem is that Arafat is still the only Palestinian official who can pay the bills. And it is unclear who, if anyone, has access to the estimated $2-3 billion in his personal Swiss bank accounts, according to a report in the current edition of Geostrategy-Direct.com. Even his wife is said to be unaware of how to access the funds.
Arafat continues to hold the purse strings to the Palestinian finances. For the last decade, he has been the final, and often only word on payment to everybody from the suicide bomber to the janitor. Not a dime was paid without Arafat's okay.
Before he left for Paris, Arafat approved a three-member emergency committee to operate the PA and PLO in his absence. Officials said Ahmed Qurei was meant to run the PA's daily affairs while Mahmoud Abbas was appointed acting chairman of the PLO.
Palestine National Council chairman Salim Zaanoun, the third member of the committee, was said to be a symbolic figure.
Abbas and Qurei sought to acquire Arafat's power to allocate money during the absence of the PA chairman. But as he boarded a Jordanian Air Force helicopter for Amman, Arafat refused.
"I'm still alive, thank God, so don't worry," Arafat was quoted as saying.
Israeli officials confirmed that Arafat died on Thursday. They said Arafat was termed brain dead and physicians have stopped attending to him.
For Palestinians, the main question is where is Arafat's money?
Issam Abu Issa knows how Arafat appropriated and concealed money. Abu Issa was the founder and chairman of the Palestine International Bank from 1996 until he fled to Qatar in 2000.
"Rather than use donor funds for their intended purposes, Arafat regularly diverted money to his own accounts," Abu Issa said in a report for Middle East Quarterly. "It is amazing that some U.S. officials still see the Palestinian Authority as a partner even after U.S. congressional records revealed authenticated PLO papers signed by Arafat in which he instructed his staff to divert donors' money to projects benefiting himself, his family and his associates."
Arafat controls billions of dollars meant for the Palestinian people. In a word, he stole it, intelligence sources said, according to the Geostrategy-Direct report.
His personal fortune has been estimated at between $2 and $3 billion, most of it in Swiss bank accounts.
In 1997, the PA auditor's office said in its financial report that $326 million, or 43 percent of the annual budget, was "missing."
The United States has been supporting former PA security chief Mohammed Dahlan as Arafat's successor. To his friends in the Bush administration, Dahlan, 43, has all the qualities for Arab leadership: a smooth talker and brutal cop. Arafat asked Dahlan to accompany him to Paris in a move designed to keep him out of the Gaza Strip and any coup plot.
Another challenger has been Fatah Secretary-general Marwan Barghouti, sentenced to life in prison for a series of terrorist attacks. Barghouti, 44, has followers in the West Bank but does not appear to have the iron will necessary to face Arafat loyalists.
Neither Israeli nor PA officials have been told much about Arafat's condition, and the only one authorized to issue information from his hospital bedside is the chairman's wife, Suha.
Somebody pull the plug!!!!
Maybe one of the victims of a suicide bomber can do it...
I meant those who were injured (not dead).
His personal fortune has been estimated at between $2 and $3 billion, most of it in Swiss bank accounts.
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Yes, this money, much of it extorted from governments like the U.S. government, all in the name of peace efforts and aid WHICH ARAFAT HAD NO INTENT OF EVER HONORING, should be returned to the taxpayers that furnished it. The U.S. Presidents and Iraeli PMs who pandered to this maggot, should be responsible for recovering the money and returning to the people to which it belongs.
I kind of picture the early scene in "The Dark Crystal" where the old Skexy (sp?) ruler won't quite die.
Wow. $2-3 billion dollars being the 'crusader for the oppressed.' Much like Michael Moore making millions being 'the voice of the little man.' I hope Arafat cut the sow out of the equation and gave the money to his gay lovers. Suha "The Beard" Arafat deserves the McGreevey treatment.
Wonder what's going to happen when the terrorist start to say "Show me the money!"
Who has the Weekend at Bernies photo?
Me wonders who the donors are?
Arafat probably figured he need the money for the 72 virgins he's expecting soon.
S: "Yassar, for the love of Allah, what is the code? The CODE!!!????"
Y: "Bosco...BOSCO!"
Well, according to this account, no suicide bombers get paid, so this might mean a drop off in bombings for awhile eh?
If they hadn't nailed him to the perch . . .
It's about time that sucker takes a Dirt Nap....
NO! As long as he's alive, NOTHING can get done by the PLO. They can't access the money, they can't appoint a successor, NOTHING.
As soon as he's dead, they can sue in European courts to have the money turned over to the new PLO chairman, and they can resume the bombings
a great seinfeld.....LOL
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