This could be just the beginning, readers should not be surprised to hear about something like the story of Monica Lewnski, the bullet which assassinated Bill Clinton's character.

PA calls Israeli corruption story `smear campaign` against Abbas

Published on February 10, 2010

 Bethlehem – Ma'an –

Palestinian Authority officials dismissed the intelligence officer behind allegedly leaked videotapes cataloguing government corruption more than two years ago, secretary-general of the Palestinian president’s office Al-Tayyib Abdul Rahim said Wednesday.

The leaked reports were reported by Ma'an in August, and the story reappeared in the Israeli press this week, with Channel 10 reporting it had more than 400 documents supporting corruption claims. The story ran with the lead that the PA had refused to comment on the issue.

Angered over what he called the persistent misleading reports over the matter, Abdul Rahim said Fahmi Shabana, a low-level officer who leaked the tapes was charged with collaboration and dismissed for the leak as well as “several other immoral and dishonest offences.”

The PA official said the government was “not surprised by the frantic campaign by Israeli media outlets,” and said the “re-telling of faded lies and stories” was supported in “Israeli official circles.”

The issue of the intelligence officer was raised by the Palestinian Attorney on 8 June 2008, when he issued an arrest warrant for the man, Abdul Rahim said. The warrant is still in effect, with the former officer apparently claiming Israeli officials put him under house arrest. Abudl Rahim accused the man of hiding from the Palestinian police.

As to the matter of land sales to Israel, Abdul Rahim said, he had been given a mandate to investigate the issue more than five years ago.

Fahmi Shabana “was appointed by the Palestinian general intelligence service to collect information about those land deals, and the people involved in them from Jerusalem.,” Abdul Rahim said, noting Shabana “overstepped his authority and committed blackmail.”

When officers discovered Shabban’s actions, Abdul Rahim said, President Mahmoud Abbas “gave directives to refer him to the general prosecution because some of the people involved in the suspected land deals fled to Israel, and others left the country. The PA exerted efforts to detain them with the help of Interpol, with some success, and wanted individuals were returned to the PA.”

Smear campaign for refusal to re-start peace talks

Abdul Rahim accused Israeli officials of using the old news to re-launch a campaign against Abbas following his refusal to re-start peace talks with Israel.

Abbas has so far stuck to his position that a full settlement construction freeze must be put in place before the PLO returns to peace talks (until the Israeli occupation government stops its illegal settlement building activities on Palestinian lands).

The official said some of the documents the Israeli press claim to have were fabricated, citing a “false campaign against Abbas” when he was “accused of dropping the Goldstone report” to the UN.

In a December interview on Egyptian television, Abbas took full responsibility for dropping the Goldstone report.

Hamas: Fat'h must shun corrupt members

[ 10/02/2010 - 04:40 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Hamas said that Israeli media reports that Ramallah and Fat'h officials were involved in financial and moral scandals were not new, recalling that it has documents proving those officials' corruption.

Hamas in a statement on Wednesday said that the Movement refused to publish such scandals to give those involved the opportunity to mend their ways and to maintain the Palestinian ranks.

It underlined that those "leaders" do not represent the Palestinian people whether those whose names were listed in the report or not, adding that those persons only seek their own interests and whims and are obstructing reconciliation and resistance and should stand trial.

Hamas urged Fat'h faction to reconsider its positions, to halt cooperation with Israeli occupation government, and to shun the corrupt elements within its ranks and return to the national lines.

The Movement warned of the Israeli exploitation of those scandals whether those published or not to blackmail the Ramallah authority and Fat'h into returning to negotiations and bargaining because such a situation might threaten the liquidation of the Palestine cause.

A number of Israeli TV channels had unveiled a series of corruption and sexual activities in the office of the PA presidency in Ramallah city.

The channel 10 in the Israeli TV reported that close associates of Abbas and ministers in the illegitimate PA government of Salam Fayyad embezzled millions of dollars donated by Arab and European countries to the Palestinian people from the PA accounts in Amman and Cairo.

According to the channel, those associates were also commissioned to purchase lands for the PA government but they didn’t reveal the real price of those lands, adding that the amount they announced was far more than the real price.

The channel based its allegations on a 6-year investigation conducted by PA intelligence officer Fahmi Shabana Al-Tamimi who also disclosed a number of sexual incidents in the office of the PA presidency.

A videotape showed a high-ranking official in Abbas's authority in shameful positions with a woman who applied to work in the office.