UAE aid money to Gaza gives boost to former Fatah leader
The United Arab Emirates is paying tens of millions of dollars to support Palestinian war victims in Gaza, but the aid is also giving a boost to an exiled Fatah leader of the impoverished enclave.
Mohammed Dahlan headed the Palestinian security services in Gaza before it was overrun by Hamas militants in 2007. He moved to the West Bank where he got into a bitter power struggle with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas before fleeing to Abu Dhabi. There, he has been pushing for funds from the United Arab Emirates, which has been reticent to aid an area ruled by Hamas, which grew out of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, which the Emirati government opposes. The latest grant of $12 million credited to Dahlan was dispersed Wednesday.
