Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Melchior announced today that a joint Jordanian and Israeli effort had succeeded in transporting a former high-level Arafat confidante to the United Kingdom. The senior PA official had acted as PLO finance minister, and knows the intricacies of Arafat's money dealings and fraudulent activities. The former Arafat aide was living under heavy guard for the past year, having fallen out of favor in the PA. Melchior explained that the 73-year-old man is ill with diabetes, and that Israel had decided to help in what was labeled a humanitarian mission. The former PA official was smuggled out of Gaza, spent several days in Mukassed Hospital in eastern Jerusalem, and was then flown to the UK via Ben Gurion Airport with Israel's assistance.