The Gulf 24 news website reports that the UAE has begun to pour tens of millions of dollars to dismissed former leader of the Palestinian political party Fatah, Muhammad Dahlan.
The website quoted informed sources in the Emirates, as saying, “Abu Dhabi allocated huge sums of money to Dahlan’s lists and its success in tens of millions of dollars.”
According to the sources, Dahlan intends to buy the loyalty of personalities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with the money, in order to participate in a parallel list to counter Fatah.
The sources emphasised that the UAE’s attempts to influence the Palestinian elections which are scheduled to take place in May.
An “aid convoy” provided by the UAE arrived in Gaza Strip via the Rafah land crossing with Egypt, and the movement led by dissident Dahlan announced that he had received this aid.
The movement’s spokesman, Imad Mohsen, claimed that the convoy came “within the framework of the assistance provided by the Emirates Red Crescent to the most needy groups in the Gaza Strip.”
Mohammed Dahlan is a highly controversial figure in Palestinian politics. The former leader of Fatah in the Gaza Strip, he was expelled in 2011 following evidence pointing to his involvement in the assassination of Palestinian president Yasser Arafat, as well as charges of corruption.
Dahlan left Palestine and settled in the United Arab Emirates, where he has worked as a security advisor since. It is reported that he was directly involved in the hiring of former US Special Forces as mercenaries for assassination missions on behalf of the UAE in Yemen, as well as being a key negotiator in the UAE establishment of relations with the Zionist entity of Israel.
