THE RUSH FOR ARAFAT'S $$$

Arab News reports that Arafat's cronies back in Ramallah are fighting over his fortune:

sources close to the Palestinian leadership said a bitter fight had broken over who should control the ailing leader’s fortune estimated to be between $4.2 billion and $6.5 billion. Sources said Arafat has written a will transferring control of his assets to members of his wife’s family. Some of his aides, including former Premier Mahmoud Abbas who has stepped in as interim leader, however, believe the fortune belongs to the “beit al-mal” (public treasury), and should be transferred to the Palestinian Authority.

The Times of London also has an article on the rush for Arafat's billions: Fading Arafat Fights to Keep $1 Billion War Chest:
While fighting for his life in a French military hospital, Arafat was engaged in another, secret battle last week as he tried to keep control of bank accounts that are central to his survival in power. Arafat's godfather-like sway over his people derives less these days from his revolutionary credentials than from the estimated $1 billion in bank accounts to which he alone has access. He was resisting all efforts to pry the key to this impressive war chest out of his hands. Arafat was constantly doling out money. "From flight tickets to refurnishing a house, from money for needy families to money for medical treatment, everything went through Arafat," said a Palestinian source. "Now there is nobody to authorize these payments." No wonder they were all praying for a speedy recovery. Palestinians can only hope that Arafat does not fall unconscious again before explaining how to access the bank accounts. (Times-UK)

And the Telegraph has a piece on Suha Arafat, for whom image is everything.' : "Image Is All" for PLO Leader's Fashion-Loving Young Wife - Kim Willsher (Telegraph-UK)
The spendthrift image of Mrs. Arafat was enhanced when French authorities launched an investigation into claims that $11.4 million had been transferred to two of her French bank accounts between July 2002 and 2003. The sums were on top of an allowance of $100,000 which Mr. Arafat sends his wife each month. She has lived in Paris full-time since 2000 and has been granted French citizenship. Last year, Mrs. Arafat bought a multi-million pound flat in the chic 16th arrondissement, and she owns another property in the wealthy suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine. She is often seen in the front rows of Paris fashion shows, or shopping with the wife of Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. "She is obsessed by image. Everything about her screams money. She is immaculate, from her Chanel eyeshadow to her manicured fingernails," said a friend in Paris.