Israel desperate to grab one accountant

Even as Israel’s siege of Arafat’s Ramallah compound comes to an end, it is the fate of Shubaki, a high school graduate with a near-photographic memory for numbers, that is most problematic. Shubaki has been holed up inside the compound with Arafat, other aides, guards and the now-convicted killers of Israeli Cabinet Minister, Rehavam Zeevi.

Shubaki and the killers are destined for a dusty prison in Jericho under terms of a US brokered agreement, while Israel continues to demand the extradition of all six men. But it is Shubaki whom Israeli officials are most keen to question — and whom Arafat is most reluctant to give up — with his knowledge of the financial operations of both the Palestinian Authority and the Fatah movement.

Israeli intelligence officials believe that Shubaki has controlled millions of dollars over the years — money that was used to equip Palestinian militias, before the founding of the Palestinian Authority, and security services afterwards.

Once the Palestinian Authority was established, Shubaki, as its chief financial officer, had partial control over the treasury, which was funded by above board sources such as European, Saudi and Israel contributions, plus tax revenues. More intriguing, he might have intimate knowledge of Arafat’s private and extremely well-stocked bank accounts, intelligence officials say. They hope Shubaki can provide proof that Arafat financed terrorism.

Israeli and Palestinian sources agree that Shubaki could do little without Arafat’s permission. Palestinian sources said Shubaki also controls the purse strings of Fatah, with oversight of all the money that goes into the organisation and comes out of it. ‘‘He’s Arafat’s pocket,’’ said his lawyer and friend, Hussein Shyoukhi. When Israeli troops invaded Ramallah on March 29 and stormed Arafat’s compound, they headed for the offices of Shubaki and general intelligence director Tawfiq Tirawi. Truckloads of documents were seized, Israeli intelligence officials said.

However, Palestinian officials have called into question the authenticity of all of the documents, noting the extrajudicial way in which they were taken, and accused Israel of fabricating evidence to build its case against Shubaki, the Palestinian Authority and Arafat.

Within Fatah and the Palestinian middle management, Shubaki has been regarded as someone to turn to for money or other needs such as gasoline, computers and equipment, said Ahmed Nasser, a Fatah activist.

(LATWP)