CCTAU 3,336 Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Can this guy ever be trusted? My Webpagarafate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
channonc 466 Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Nope. Plain and simple. As long as he is still around, the Palestinians and the Israelis have no hope of ever finding peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny AU-92 0 Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Did you see he was on the Forbes' List of Wealthiest Kings, Queens & Despots, along with Sadaam and Castro? Unreal... Although they have now brought in a new Finance guy to audit the PLO funds, etc., and Arafat may be in for a world of hurt. He is no different than the dictator of some African nation that bathes in gold plated tubs while the people of his country live in cardboard boxes and raw sewage runs in the streets. Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat made Forbes Magazine's list of the world richest people in a new category reserved for kings, queens, and despots. With a personal fortune of at least $300 million stashed away in Swiss banks, Arafat is featured in Forbes's special annual issue on the world's top 500 billionaires. Arafat placed No. 6 on a list of world leaders in the ''kings, queens, and despots'' category. Saudi Arabia's King Fahd topped the list at $20 billion, and Saddam Hussein was fourth with $2b. Forbes wrote that Arafat has ''feasted on all sorts of funds flowing into the Palestinian Authority, including aid money, Israeli tax transfers, and revenue from a casino and Coca-Cola bottler. Much of the money appears to have gone to pay off others. New Finance Minister Salaam Fayad is cleaning up the PA's finances, cutting off much of Arafat's cash flow.'' The Forbes figure is modest in comparison to other estimates of Arafat's riches. In a briefing delivered last August to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, OC Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Aharon (Farkash) Ze'evi reported his net worth at $1.3b. In 1990, the CIA reportedly estimated that Arafat and the PLO had between $8b. and $14b. worth of assets at their disposal. In 1995, the US General Accounting Office compiled a report on Arafat's finances, but it was kept secret due to ''national security interests.'' Kept off the official billionaires list because, according to the accompanying text, ''they don't exactly represent success stories of entrepreneurial capitalism,'' Arafat, Saddam Hussein, and Fidel Castro, worth $110m., made it onto the list of rogue rich instead. The section features a two-page spread titled ''Auditing Arafat,'' which surmises he ''may be brought to heel by, of all things, honest financial accounting.'' ___________________ Yaser Arafat Country/Title: Palestinian Authority/President Estimated Worth: $300 million Age: 73 The president of the Palestinian Authority clings to power despite Israeli and U.S. hostility to his regime. Arafat has feasted on all sorts of funds flowing into the P.A., including aid money, Israeli tax transfers, and revenue from a casino and Coca-Cola bottler. Much of the money appears to have gone to pay off others. New Finance Minister Salam Fayyad is cleaning up the P.A.'s finances, cutting off much of Arafat's cash flow. _______________________ Fidel Castro Country/Title: Cuba/President Estimated Worth: $110 million Age: 76 Cuba's 76-year-old revolutionary doesn't advertise his opulent life. In public, at least, he dons fatigues and black combat boots. But he can afford better. We estimate that Castro has at least $110 million (roughly 10% of Cuba's GDP) at his disposal. ________________________ Saddam Hussein Country/Title: Iraq/President Estimated Worth: $2 billion Age: 65 The Iraqi strongman is facing the biggest threat yet to his dictatorship. The U.S. seems bent on dethroning him from his seat of power in Baghdad, where he has been perched since 1979. For some two decades he has enriched himself off Iraqi oil revenue, building palaces all over the desert nation. While wars are a costly hobby, he's still well off by any definition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
channonc 466 Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 I guess my parents were wrong!! It does pay to be a criminal. It pays big!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny AU-92 0 Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Betcha that list never makes the from page of the "Palestinian Daily News" or whatever their regular fish wrap paper is called. Al Jazeera probably didn't report it either. If I were living in a hovel because this man wouldn't make peace so he could continue to feather his nest, I would be highly ticked off. The Sixty Minutes program on him I saw Sunday said that the latest "showings of support" for Arafat that were plastered all over the news were actually rent-a-rallies!! Guess you can buy a lot of screaming peasants for $300M... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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