RAMALLAH, West Bank — The article by Jihad al-Khazen in the London-based Al-Hayat published June 12 and titled “A Gulf Opinion on Obama and the Palestinian Cause” has provoked silent controversy between the Palestinian Authority and the United Arab Emirates. Khazen quoted a Gulf official, without mentioning who he was, saying, “The PA ought to retire because it is a mixture of failure and corruption and is unreliable.”
Khazen continued, quoting the same official, “The UAE has stopped all aid to the PA because the latter had accused it [the UAE] of money laundering through an association in the West Bank, run by former Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. The UAE demands an apology from the PA for such accusations."