INSIDE THE P.A.: DONATED MONEY WENT FOR TERRORISM, CORRUPTION The “Arafat file,” presented today by Minister Danny Naveh, is a 100-page document containing evidence that much of the money sent to the Palestinian Authority by the European Union for humanitarian purposes was used by Yasser Arafat for terrorism - and to line the pockets of top PA officials. The file is based on the vast intelligence information garnered as a result of Operation Defensive Shield, including testimony by Fatah-Tanzim head Marwan Barghouti and other captured terrorists.

Minister Naveh, who oversaw the writing of the document, noted that many PA “policemen” received salaries for simply carrying out terrorist activity against Israel. The file also shows that the EU sent over $9 million monthly to the PA for purposes such as building homes for refugees, food and medicine, and that Arafat diverted much of it - up to 2/3, in some months - to the Tanzim’s Al Aqsa Brigades and other terrorist organizations. Larger sums of money from Arab countries were also diverted in this manner. In addition, much of the money also ended up in the pockets of senior PA officials, according to testimony gathered by Israeli investigators.

The evidence appears to be so convincing that PA officials are not even bothering to deny it. Ziyad Abu Ziyad, speaking with Israel Radio this morning, merely said, “We must put the past behind us… We were at war…”

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and President Hosni Mubarak’s advisor Osama Al-Baz met with Arafat in Ramallah this morning. On the agenda: an attempt to coordinate their positions in light of the latest diplomatic developments.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 6th, 2002 and is filed under hotnews.