PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY MINISTER OF ECONOMY TIED TO HAMAS?

By Matthew Levitt

On February 24, 2005, the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) approved the new cabinet proposed by Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei. Often described as technocratic and progressive, the cabinet is widely seen as fitting the Bush administration's requirement of being "untainted by terror." Yet, one cabinet appointment gives reason for concern: the new minister of economy, Mazen Sunuqrut, has close, longstanding ties to Hamas.

Palestinian, Israeli, and U.S. intelligence agencies have all linked Sunuqrut to Hamas, primarily through a family company in which he is part owner and a bank whose board of directors he led. According to an undated Palestinian General Intelligence report seized by Israeli forces in 2002, Palestinian security officials determined that a Hamas charity committee laundered funds raised abroad through local banks, money changers, and businesses with ties to Hamas. One of two companies highlighted in the report was the so-called "Sunuqrut company" (a reference to Sunuqrut Global Group), which the report described as "among the most important companies the [Ramallah/al-Bireh Zakat] Committee works with." According to Israeli authorities, "Sunuqrut is a company one of whose owners, Mazen Sunuqrut, is a Hamas activist."

The full article is available here.

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