Honor among thieves

The Jerusalem Post reports that a group of Palestinian legislators are demanding an investigation into the whereabouts of huge amounts of money belonging to the Palestinians. It seems finally to have dawned on some Palestinians that Yasser Arafat may be — how can I say this without offending the Saudis — less than entirely scrupulous when it comes to money. The Palestinian legislators believe that Arafat’s adviser on economic affairs, Muhammad Rashid (also known as Kaled Salam) is holding at least $200 million in a secret bank account. The money represents tax revenues, profits from commercial investments and PA controlled monopolies, petroleum duties paid via Israeli customs, and so forth. The money is thought to be in secret Swiss bank accounts, with only Rashid and Arafat knowing its actual whereabouts. And, unfortunately for Arafat, he and Rashid reportedly have had a falling out