GAZA CITY, 20 May 2006 — Palestinian security forces yesterday confiscated $817,000 from Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri at the Rafah border crossing. The cash was found on Abu Zuhri as he was trying to enter Gaza Strip from Egypt.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asked the Palestinian attorney general to investigate the senior Hamas leader. Abbas’ adviser Saeb Erekat said: “President Abbas has sent the money and the file to the attorney general for investigation.”
Julio de la Guardia, a spokesman for EU observers who monitor the crossing, said travelers must declare all sums over $2,000 (euro 1,600) and explain its origin. “He (Abu Zuhri) did not declare that money, he tried to smuggle it,” de la Guardia said.
Abu Zuhri told Al-Jazeera satellite TV that the money was donated by private people he met during a tour of Arab states.
Dozens of Hamas gunmen blocked the crossing after the money was confiscated. Abu Zuhri was escorted out of the terminal by another Hamas official. “We are upset to be dealt with this way at a time when the Palestinian people are suffering from siege and starvation,” Abu Zuhri told Al-Jazeera.
Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau based in Damascus, said the confiscated money should be returned. “This money is part of the money supporting the Palestinian people which the (Palestinian) Authority cannot confiscate,” Abu Marzouk said.
Palestinian sources said Abu Zuhri was returning from Qatar, whose government pledged $50 million to the Palestinian Authority, but has not been able to transfer the cash because of Western economic sanctions on the Hamas government.
