Arafat 'has built up fortune of €2.6bn'
Friday November 07 2003
Mr Arafat's 40-year-old wife Suha, who lives away from the struggles of her homeland, is given more than €87,600 a month from Palestinian Authority coffers, CBS show 60 Minutes is set to report.
CBS correspondent Lesley Stahl said in a newspaper interview that Mrs Arafat's mother, Raymonda Tawil, is apparently enjoying life in Paris at the expense of Palestinian taxpayers.
"I have visited Suha's mother," Stahl said, "and she lives very well."
Mrs Arafat lives in Paris with Arafat's eight-year-old daughter, Zahwa. The daughter of a wealthy Christian family, Mrs Arafat converted to Islam after her secret marriage to Mr Arafat in 1990.
President Arafat (74) is confined to his territory by Israel. Mrs Arafat told an Arabic magazine last year she was "prepared to return any moment" her husband asked her to.
Meanwhile, in Ramallah, the Palestinian leadership crisis intensified yesterday, with the finance minister staying home in protest over political moves that delayed formation of a new Cabinet.
The deadlock between Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia is also holding up renewal of high-level contacts with Israel, and it might derail a conference of international donors who have been supporting the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority.
At issue in the dispute is the appointment of an interior minister who would consolidate the security forces - some of which are under the command of Arafat - and play a key role in possible action against violent groups.
- Mark Sage in New York
