Suha Arafat
Yasser and Suha Arafat
Well, it was bound to happen. Tunisia has issued an international arrest warrant for Suha Arafat, Yasser’s widow, who lives in Malta. Her brother is actually the Palestinian ambassador here in Malta.
Suha Arafat has been dogged by accusations of corruption just as her late PLO leader husband was accused of embezzling millions of dollars intended for projects to make life better for Palestinians.
Suha lost her Tunisian citizenship in 2007, when she moved to Malta. It is unclear what passport she has now, but it might very well be Maltese.
There were accusations in a Tunisian newspaper at the time that her house here had been bought for her by Muammar Gaddafi, though why she would have needed his money is anyone’s guess when she has plenty of her husband’s. Mrs Arafat denied the accusations at the time, though she did say that if Gaddafi had bought her house for her, there would have been nothing wrong with that, but he didn’t.
The incoming Tunisian government says she is wanted for corruption dating back to 2006, the year before she fell out with Leila Trabelsi, consort to the then Tunisian dictator Ben Ali.
Suha was raised a Christian but converted to Islam when she married Arafat in 1990. They have one child, born in 1995,and she was 34 years younger than he. They didn’t get along terribly well. She gave interviews to newspapers saying that he neglected her and didn’t buy her jewellery, preferring to carry on living like a bachelor instead, but then went on to ferociously defend his cause and make it her own.
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http://articles.sfgate.com/2004-11-07/news/17454926_1_suha-arafat-palestinian-leader-arafat-s-return
I wonder who looks after her money in Malta.
Honestly this is the first time I heard that Suha Arafat lives in Malta.
http://insiteronline.com/news/maltatoday-plagiarises-student-news-story/
Giannella will probably defend her, as Yasser and Suha had a close relationship with her late lamented father.
Is Malta then duty bound to extradite her?
Quick! Joe Grima has escaped.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2055632/OranGUTan-Sweet-tooth-Bendot-beats-heat-begging-ice-lolly-zoo-visitor.html
The likeness is remarkable.
He’s taken off his black shirt and yellow tie, so that we don’t recognise him.
Suha was meant to speak to TVAM this morning, I assume on the invitation of her pal il-gurnalist now avukat Joe Mifsud. Did anyone watch it, and can they report back here?
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20111101/local/Suha-Arafat-denies-corruption-claim.391724
The BBC had this to say about Arafat’s personal wealth estimated by Forbes in 2003 as being $300m:
“While there has been plenty of speculation, the boundary between his personal wealth and Palestinian public funds is unclear.”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3995769.stm
Years ago it was reported in the English media that Arafat had misappropriated millions of dollars into his safe accounts which were meant for the Palestinian cause. But because he was the head of the Palestinian people no one dared to investigate.
Perhaps things are now coming up into the open.
Suha is claiming that the arrest warrant against her is “an attack against the Palestinian people.”
How so exactly?
The warrant refers to a business deal in her personal capacity that went sour in Tunisia.
How are the Palestinian people even remotley involved?
Is it not also strange that she has diplomatic immunity because her brother is Palestine’s representative in Malta? How does that work?
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/11/02/174962.html