Part 4 - only an extremist would support this thief. Even his own people know he's a crook.
==================================================
Does Rachid think that it should have gone, in some way, back to help the Palestinian people?
"Of course," he says. But, "I don't, I don't decide what we do with the money."
Those who want to know why Arafat didn't bring the money back, he says, should ask him. But Arafat didn't want to talk.
There's yet another stash of money Arafat might be asked about: the funds he collected when he was chairman of the PLO in exile. The PLO's former treasurer told us he saw Saddam Hussein hand Arafat a $50 million check for supporting him during the first Gulf War. And there were other large gifts from the KGB and the Saudis.
Ross says, "Arafat used to say to me, 'Where's my money? You need to go to the Saudis and get my money.' It was never the Palestinians' money."
Fayyad is trying to make sure it's the people's money, but many say his one-man reform effort is having only limited success. Arafat recently sent armed men to prevent Fayyad from replacing the head of the civil service, who runs Arafat's patronage apparatus. That has lead some to think Fayyad himself could be in danger.
"He cannot know, and we cannot know at what point he crosses the red line," says Indyk.
Other people who have dared to call for transparency of all these finances have been beaten up, shot, and silenced. Why is Fayyad surviving? Indyk says, "We should not take it for granted."
He has upset so many powerful people, and his offices have already been ransacked more than once. But Fayyad says he does not feel threatened.
"It's a dangerous neighborhood," he admits. "But you know this is about, you know, doing the right thing for the people."
© MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
