Palestinian Dubai Murder Suspects are Hamas Members – Palestinian Security Official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Mohamed Al-Du'ma, Kifah Zaboun - February 17, 2010 - 1:00am

Palestinian Authority police spokesman General Adnan al-Dameeri played down Hamas's accusations that the two Palestinians who have been arrested in Dubai on suspicion of participating in the assassination of senior Hamas member Mahmoud al-Mabhouh were working for the Palestinian Authority security forces.

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Corruption…The Conflict between Ramallah and Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Ali Ibrahim - (Opinion) February 17, 2010 - 1:00am

The decision taken by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to suspend his chief of staff as a result of the case created by the dissident Palestinian intelligence officer who revealed violations and corruption committed by officials in the Palestinian Authority on Israeli television was most certainly the right decision. However we must take into account that a suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty and it is the task of the commission of inquiry to investigate this and this commission is scheduled to submit its report within three weeks.

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It is not just corruption
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Hassan Barari - (Opinion) February 16, 2010 - 1:00am

Few, if any, were shocked by the news that senior Palestinian officials close to President Mahmoud Abbas were involved in various kinds of corruption. One report after another has revealed corruption in the Palestinian Authority (PA) unparallel anywhere else in the Middle East. Indeed, one of the reasons behind the electoral fall of the Fateh movement was the widely held perception of a highly corrupt PA under Fateh rule. As such, it is not that the phenomenon is unknown. It is about the timing for revealing the issue and the identity of the one exposing the corruption.

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Yasser Arafat's successor will likely be a Fatah security figure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Helga Baumgarten - (Opinion) February 15, 2010 - 1:00am

Although it appeared that the leadership transition inside the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), the Palestinian Authority, and the Fatah movement was resolved smoothly with the January 2005 election of Mahmoud Abbas following the death of Yasser Arafat, many Palestinians continue to view Abbas’ election as only an interim solution to Palestinian problems. In the meantime, the struggle for succession inside Fatah has continued behind closed doors and recently has come out into the open due to Abbas’ waning legitimacy and popularity.

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Selling a piece of Palestinian Main Street
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - (Interview) February 15, 2010 - 1:00am

Is the West Bank ready for Wall Street? That's a question soon to be answered with the launch of the first-of-its-kind Palestinian private equity fund, which managers hope will raise $50 million to invest in businesses in the Palestinian territories. The Palestine Liberation Organization's finances have at times drawn criticism. Late PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat was accused of controlling a $1-billion investment portfolio that, Western intelligence agencies said, was funded in part through money laundering, arms dealing and diversion of international aid.

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Palestinian President Suspends Aide in Sex Scandal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - February 14, 2010 - 1:00am

Facing a corruption scandal that has rocked the highest echelons of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, the Palestinian president suspended his chief of staff on Sunday while a committee investigates accusations that the aide sought to trade influence for sex. A videotape broadcast by an Israeli television station last week shows the chief of staff, Rafiq Husseini, waiting naked in bed for a Palestinian woman who was said to have come to the president’s office seeking government help.

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Muslim firebrands challenge Hamas rule in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Karin Laub - February 14, 2010 - 1:00am

They preach global jihad, or holy war, adhere to an ultraconservative form of Islam and are becoming a headache even for Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza. Jihadi Salafis, as they are known, have organized into small, shadowy armed groups that have clashed with Hamas forces and fired rockets at Israel in defiance of Hamas' informal truce.

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Hamas boycotts meeting over municipal elections
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 12, 2010 - 1:00am

No members of the Hamas party attended the Thursday meeting of PLO factions alongside the elections committee to prepare for a June municipal vote across the West Bank and Gaza, Fatah General Elections Commissioner Muhammad Al-Madani said. Though Hamas is not part of the PLO, the party was invited to the meeting, Al-Madani said, to prepare for elections called by the Ramallah-based caretaker government on 2 February. The Palestinian Authority Cabinet, under appointed Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, set the elections date for 17 July 2010.

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Fatah urges Hamas to sign reconciliation file before AL summit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 12, 2010 - 1:00am

A high-ranking official of Palestinian Fatah movement Thursday in Egypt urged Hamas to sign the Egyptian-brokered reconciliation file before the yearly Arab summit next month. Nabil Shaath, a member of the Fatah central committee, made the remarks in a statement carried by the state-run MENA news agency. "The movement (Fatah) will not hold any discussions with Hamas unless Hamas accepts an Egyptian-sponsored paper on inter- Palestinian reconciliation," Shaath said in the statement.

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Bare Hands and Deteriorating Minds
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat
by Zuheir Kseibati - (Opinion) February 11, 2010 - 1:00am

The opinion polls do not reveal surprising facts in Israel, as they promise the Likud Party and its leader Benjamin Netenyahu with more publicity among the Israelis. These polls promise to reward their extremism with more seats in the Knesset.

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