| Author (Person) | Cronin, David |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.11, No.10, 17.3.05 |
| Publication Date | 17/03/2005 |
| Content Type | News |
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By David Cronin Date: 17/03/05 OLAF, the European Commission's anti-fraud office, finds no conclusive evidence to uphold Israeli claims that EU funds for the Palestinian Authority have been siphoned off to terrorists, but has found that weaknesses in the Ramallah civil service mean the misuse of financing cannot be ruled out. The OLAF probe, results of which will be announced today (17 March), appears to confirm suspicions that Yasser Arafat took some of the secrets about Palestinian finance to the grave. It uncovered an account in Tunis linked to the Palestinian Authority, whose precise owner is unknown. The account is believed to contain the equivalent of several million euros. OLAF discovered that Arafat had authorised the transfer of US $238 million (2 177m)to Swiss bank accounts between 1997 and early 2000, without telling international donors. Although the EU is the biggest provider of aid to the Palestinians, OLAF says it is confident that these transfers did not involve the Union's funds. The first payment under an EU "special cash facility" for the Palestinians was in November 2000. The OLAF probe was opened in 2003 and its conclusions are favourable towards the reforms to the Palestinian budget overseen in the past few years by Finance Minister Salam Fayyad. Until 2002, a portion of the Palestinian budget was reserved for spending at Arafat's discretion, a practice ended by the Fayyad reforms. But OLAF was never in a position to directly monitor expenditure and frequently had to rely on answers given by Fayyad's officials, sometimes without supporting documentation. It also found that some of practices resorted to in the past - such as the payment of 'rewards' to families of Palestinians killed during the intifada - were liable to spark allegations that Arafat was supporting terrorism. It urges that the EU should raise such issues with the new Palestinian administration, headed by Arafat's successor Mahmoud Abbas. After the Israeli government ceased transferring tax and customs revenues to the Palestinians following the intifada's outbreak in November 2000, the EU made up for the shortfall, providing more than €246m between then and April 2003. Allegations of misuse became a bugbear in EU-Israel relations. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon claimed the Union's money was being spent on weapons when senior figures from the European Commission and Council of Ministers visited Jerusalem in late 2001. OLAF has recommended that the Commission provide greater support to the Palestinian Authority to develop more robust financial controls. The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) on 17 March 2005 closed its investigation into the European Commission's Direct Assistance to the Palestinian Authority's budget. On the basis of the information available to OLAF at that moment, the investigation found no conclusive evidence of support of armed attacks or unlawful activities financed by the European Commission's contributions to the budget. |
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Economic and Financial Affairs |
| Countries / Regions | Europe, Middle East |
