http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.../25/wmid25.xml
Palestinians 'made millions' selling cheap cement for barrier they bitterly oppose
By Inigo Gilmore in Jerusalem
(Filed: 25/07/2004)
Palestinian businessmen have made millions of pounds supplying cement for Israel's "security barrier" in the full knowledge of Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader and one of the wall's most vocal critics.
A damning report by Palestinian legislators, which has been seen by the Telegraph, concludes that Mr Arafat did nothing to stop the deals although he publicly condemned the structure as a "crime against humanity".
The Israeli wall cuts through the Palestinian town of Baqa el-Gharbiya
The report claims that the cement was sold with the knowledge of senior officials at the Palestinian ministry of national economy, and close advisers to Mr Arafat. It concludes that officials were bribed to issue import licences for the cement to importers and businessmen working for Israelis.
One of the report's three authors, Hassan Khreishe - an independent legislator and long-term critic of Mr Arafat - last night called for the Palestinian cabinet to resign.
"Wealthy Palestinians with connections at the highest levels have been making millions helping Israel build this wall while Arafat and the Palestinian Authority have been urging people to fight against it," said Mr Khreishe, a council member from the West Bank city of Tulkarm.
"Why Arafat did nothing about it, we just don't know. These people are traitors who have brought shame on us, and they should be punished."
An official in Mr Arafat's office said: "We will not comment because this file has been closed and it is now in the hands of the attorney general."
Growing resistance to corruption in the Palestinian Authority is posing the most serious internal challenge to Mr Arafat's leadership. Last week, gunmen staged a number of kidnappings and attacks on security buildings in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated about high-level corruption and the appointment of Mr Arafat's cousin, Moussa Arafat, as security chief in the Gaza Strip.
The report reveals that the cement originally came from Egyptian companies which supplied it at a huge discount of $22 (£12.50) a ton to help rebuild dilapidated Palestinian houses or buildings bulldozed by the Israelis.
Between September 2003 and March this year, 420,000 tons of cement were allegedly sent to three big Palestinian companies. According to the report, however, only 33,000 tons were sold in the Palestinian market. The vast bulk was transported to Israel on trucks owned by the three firms. According to Mr Khreishe, the cement was then sold with a mark-up of at least $15 a ton - and possibly as high as $100 - making profits of well over $6 million (£3.4 million) for company executives.
The Legislative Council launched an investigation after Egyptian journalists stumbled upon business links between a German Jewish businessman and the Palestinian companies.
According to the report, on November 9 last year a letter was sent to Mr Arafat by the Palestinian Authority comptroller, revealing that open-ended import licences for the cement had been signed by Maher al-Masri, the economy minister.
The Palestinian Authority comptroller asserted in the letter that the cement was destined for the wall.
The letter was allegedly received and seen by Mr Arafat on the same day that he urged people to demonstrate on the first international "Day against the Wall". According to Mr Khreishe, Mr Arafat took no action to stop further imports, which continued for another five months.
Ministry officials said that Mr al-Masri was unavailable for comment. The minister was quoted on a Palestinian news website challenging the claims, although he conceded that some cement had been transported to Israeli businessmen. "There is an exaggeration," he said. "The goal is to distort my reputation."
He said that his own investigative committee found that only 14,500 tons of concrete were transported to Israel. He conceded that two ministry officials carried out some "suspicious administrative violations" in relation to the permits, and that there was not full co-ordination between the economy and finance ministries regarding the cement quota. The ministry had issued permits for 233,000 tons, he said, and had then cancelled permits for 65,000 tons.
The revelations in the report are highly embarrassing for Mr Arafat, who has been pushing the international community to condemn the 425-mile barrier, of which about one quarter has been built. Israel says that the barrier is vital to protect its citizens from suicide bombers and terrorist attacks. Palestinian leaders argue that it is designed to deprive them of a state, and is cutting off Palestinians from their land, schools, doctors and relatives.
Last week, the United Nations condemned the barrier and demanded that it should be torn down.
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