"Yasser Arafat is rich," reports the New York Daily News, "but his Palestinian Authority is going broke." Despite - or because of - Arafat's wealth, PA Economy Minister Maher Masri is quoted as saying, "If this situation continues... we will not be able to provide salaries next month."
The paper writes that though his people have grown poorer, Arafat himself has amassed a fortune estimated by Forbes at $300 million, putting him in sixth place on the list of richest world leaders. Israel says his real net worth exceeds $1 billion. Other analysts place the figure at closer to $3 billion.
The Palestinian Authority has received $6.5 billion in foreign aid over six years - yet Josh Block of the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC says that the PA is broke. This, he says, is because Arafat has been lining his pockets - and those of terrorist organizations - with much of the aid money for years. While nearly half the PA-area population is unemployed, Arafat's wife and daughter live in Paris on a monthly allowance of $100,000. Arafat is said to own a $55 million cement firm that controls most of the PA cement market, to hold a 23% stake in a $28.5 million casino in Jericho, and to receive profits from all gasoline imported into the PA. His money is stored in several Swiss bank accounts.
For more information, see a CBS story at "http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/07/60minutes/main582487.shtml".
The paper writes that though his people have grown poorer, Arafat himself has amassed a fortune estimated by Forbes at $300 million, putting him in sixth place on the list of richest world leaders. Israel says his real net worth exceeds $1 billion. Other analysts place the figure at closer to $3 billion.
The Palestinian Authority has received $6.5 billion in foreign aid over six years - yet Josh Block of the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC says that the PA is broke. This, he says, is because Arafat has been lining his pockets - and those of terrorist organizations - with much of the aid money for years. While nearly half the PA-area population is unemployed, Arafat's wife and daughter live in Paris on a monthly allowance of $100,000. Arafat is said to own a $55 million cement firm that controls most of the PA cement market, to hold a 23% stake in a $28.5 million casino in Jericho, and to receive profits from all gasoline imported into the PA. His money is stored in several Swiss bank accounts.
For more information, see a CBS story at "http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/07/60minutes/main582487.shtml".