Will Abbas seek rival's arrest through Interpol?
During the PNC meeting April 30, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas indicated that figures will be repatriated via Interpol, which pointed to the possibility that dismissed Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan may be among them and raises questions as to whether the Palestinian Authority will succeed in prosecuting fugitives abroad.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — In a speech before the Palestinian National Council April 30 in Ramallah, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that the Palestinian judiciary would repatriate 60 to 80 Palestinian figures through Interpol on several charges, most notably embezzlement of public funds.
“You already know them, or you already know some of them, and we want to bring them [back] via Interpol. You’ll read their names in headlines very soon,” Abbas said, without mentioning a specific date to begin prosecuting.
Abbas’ hint of well-known names is likely meant to indicate Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member and dismissed Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan, as well as some of those close to him and former Palestinian Authority (PA) official Mohammed Rashid, also known as Khaled Salam. Al-Khaleej online quoted in 2017 a Palestinian official as saying that the Palestinian Interpol has prepared files of 15 wanted Palestinian persons, including Dahlan.
On Dec. 14, Palestine’s anti-corruption court sentenced Dahlan in absentia to three years in prison for embezzlement of $16 million of public funds during his tenure as the presidency’s security affairs coordinator in 2003. The verdict followed Abbas’ revocation of Dahlan’s immunity Dec. 8, 2016. These procedures were part of the political dispute that erupted between the two in 2010.
