Senior Abbas aide testifies against rival Dahlan

A senior aide to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas takes the stand  in the trial of exiled Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan, who is being tried in absentia on corruption charges.

The trial of Dahlan, once a leading figure in Abbas’s Fatah movement who headed Gaza’s powerful security forces, began in December.

The former security chief, who was expelled from Fatah in 2011 and now lives in the United Arab Emirates, has not been in court for any of the hearings in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

According to his legal team, the 53-year-old is on trial in connection with the alleged misuse of $17 million (15 million euros) in expenses.

In an appearance before the court, the head of Abbas’s office, Hussein al-Araj, says he had not seen any documentation justifying how the money had been used by Dahlan.

Asked if he had asked Dahlan for paperwork to justify the expenses, he says: “No, and I don’t know if anyone else asked this either.”

Araj’s testimony was dismissed as “empty” by Sevag Torossian of Dahlan’s defense team, who said it would now be necessary for Abbas himself to testify.

“In calling Araj to testify, the court has used up its last fall guy and now it must face the consequences,” he tells AFP, suggesting that Araj had testified in a bid to avoid Abbas being called to the stand.

“In his testimony, Araj said he didn’t see or hear anything (relating to Dahlan’s use of funds) so now I want to hear Abbas’s testimony because apparently he is the only one who would know what happened,” Torossian says.

— AFP