Posted on 04/20/2005 1:24:06 PM PDT by knighthawk
Report French investigators are tracking $7 million transferred by PLO treasurer to Suha’s account.
WASHINGTON - French investigators are tracking seven million dollars transferred by PLO treasurer Nizar Abu Ghazaleh to the Paris bank account of ex-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's widow, The Wall Street Journal said Wednesday.
Palestinian officials said the Palestine Liberation Organization controlled a bank account in Tunisia from which millions of dollars in unexplained payments were made to Suha Arafat - payments they suspect were connected to contracts issued by the Palestinian Authority (PA) under Yasser Arafat before he died last year, the report said.
The officials are trying to find out whether the money transferred to Suha Arafat came through Al Bahr and Al Sakhra, two companies which routinely handled purchase orders placed by the PA and which apparently were seeking, according to one official, to "create a war chest in case the PLO fell back on hard times," it added.
As head of PLO finances, Ghazaleh played a key role in the transfers to Suha Arafat, according to Palestinian officials and French judicial officials probing PLO funds, it said.
Ghazaleh, who died last week, was also chairman of Al Bahr, and Suha Arafat played a key but unofficial role at the firm, helping to broker purchases, according to the daily.
The investigation follows a European Union probe that found no mishandling by the PLO of the more than 500 million dollars the EU donated to the Palestinian Authority from 2000 to 2003. The French inquiry focuses on the legality of the funds passing through Suha Arafat's Paris account.
The Wall Street Journal said that neither Suha Arafat nor her family members, nor PLO Chairman Mahmud Abbas or officials of Al Bahr or the PA could be reached for comment.
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Ouch. I see a conflict brewing. Frenchie John Kerry has been courting the widow Arafat for her millions (don't tell Teresa)
Well Chirac is trying to recover all his "business" losses from the Arabs, one way or another.
This will go nowhere, just as previous French investigations have gone. Mrs. Arafat is very frugal.
I don't imagine the "investigation" will become really full-blown until the above-mentioned are dead too.
Obviously Suha forgot to make French President Chiraq's "commission" payment this month.
A Third World dictator and his family embezzling money--imagine!
We had to wait for this clown to die before the money trail started to smell. Now abu mazen can put in anyone he wants to control the money and cut off the flow. The suha will open up her big mouth and rat out the whole operation. This is going to get good in the next few months.
EU "investigators" couldn't find their own nose in the dark.
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