IT WAS a treat for the Palestinian president: a court sentenced his chief rival to prison. On December 14th, Muhammad Dahlan was found guilty of stealing $16m and given a three-year sentence. It may prove tricky to enforce, though, since Mr Dahlan has lived in exile for five years, and was tried in absentia. The verdict, like much in Palestinian politics these days, is mostly a sign of Mahmoud Abbas’ growing weakness and paranoia.
Mr Dahlan was a leading member of the president’s nationalist Fatah party, and the first director of the Palestinian Authority’s powerful secret police. In 2006, after the Islamist group, Hamas, won parliamentary elections, he was given the job of toppling their government in Gaza. Hundreds of people died during the subsequent infighting, some hurled out of tall buildings. He went on to serve as interior minister in the West Bank. But the president came to view him as a threat, and chased him out in 2011.
Since then he has enjoyed a comfortable exile in Abu Dhabi, where he works closely with the ruling family. He acquired Serbian citizenship after helping to arrange billions of dollars in Emirati investment in...Continue reading
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