Arafat's Finances 

Arafat's Finances

Now maybe we'll learn more about Arafat's personal finances, along with those of the PLO and the Palestinian Authority.

There are rumours that billions of dollars flowed in, or were generated in revenues from the investment of contributions, while only a paltry few hundred million were ever seen flowing out. See the Toronto Star here, and the BBC here.

Salam Fayyad, a Palestinian with graduate degrees in economics from Texas after an undergraduate degree from American University in Beirut, first negotiated a new deal with Arafat on behalf of the IMF in 2000, then became Finance Minister for the Palestinian Authority. Officially, at least, the IMF is saying that Palestinian finances are much more transparent and accountable than they used to be.

"Quite exceptional" by the standards of the region--if that is high praise. Perhaps it will turn out that there are no billions of dollars--either because they were always a legend, or because they have been spent during the various intafadas.

I can't help thinking that a lot depends on these Western-educated people from the countries we are concerned about who return home to help--as in the case of the ex-Communist countries.

Another example is U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad. For all I can tell now, Khalilzad and Fayyad may even have been at American University at the same time. Remember how Beirut used to be the pearl of the Mid East?

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Sat Oct 15, 2005 11:44 pm MST by Lakers Tickets

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