Arafat moneyman is target of probe

RAMALLAH, West Bank - The late Yasir Arafat's powerful moneyman is the target of the highest-profile Palestinian corruption probe to date, facing allegations he siphoned off millions of dollars in public funds, the chief investigator said Wednesday.

Anticorruption campaigners lauded the case against the shadowy former aide, Mohammed Rashid, as a sign of the maturing of the Palestinian political system, although the probe also appeared to be tinged with political intrigue.

Rashid, who has in the past denied wrongdoing, made veiled threats on a website to disclose purported secrets about the rise to power of Arafat's successor, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. And Palestinian watchdogs, while praising growing government vigilance about corruption, expressed concern that such investigations are at times being used selectively to settle personal scores.

Rashid left the Palestinian territories after Arafat's death in November 2004, and his current whereabouts were not immediately known. Rafik Natche, head of the Palestinian Anti-Corruption Commission, said Rashid holds business interests in Jordan, Egypt, Montenegro, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, and that the Palestinian Authority has asked all five countries to freeze his assets and extradite him.

An Iraqi citizen of Kurdish ancestry, Rashid befriended top PLO officials in the 1980s.

From the 1994 establishment of the Palestinian Authority, a self-rule government in parts of the West Bank and Gaza, to Arafat's death a decade later, Rashid was in charge of many of the Palestinian leader's financial dealings. The iconic Arafat was known for a frugal lifestyle, but needed large sums to buy loyalty and allowed corrupt practices by those in his inner circle.

It is not known why Arafat put Rashid, a former journalist without formal business training, in charge of most of his business affairs.

Rashid "came to the Palestinian revolution without a penny in his pocket and became a multimillionaire," Natche said. "Where did he bring his money from? Of course, this is the money of the Palestinian people."