Arafat: A Cuckcold?

There are more twists and turns in the Arafat story than are dreamed of under heaven. Now the Israeli Insider is reporting that Suha Arafat’s financial adviser and constant companion is none other than Pierre Rizk, former head of the Phalangist intelligence agency.

French officials following the Arafat dead-or-alive fiasco were floored to discover that Suha Arafat's constant companion and financial adviser is none other than Pierre Rizk. Like her a Maronite Christian (although she went through a "conversion" to Islam when she married Yasser), Rizk headed the Phalangist intelligence service during the Lebanese civil war and was in close personal contact with the guerrilla group which carried out the massacre of hundreds of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camp in 1982.

An ally of Israel, Rizk was at the time the chief deputy of ElieHobeika, widely held directly responsible for ordering the bloodbath.

According to Daniel Nassif, Executive Director, of the American Lebanese Institute, "Elie Hobeika and Pierre Rizk,who shared command of the Lebanese Forces (Phalangists) at the time of the Sabra and Shatilla massacre, have flourished in Syrian-controlled Lebanon. Hobeika has been one of the most trusted people in Lebanon by Damascus since at least 1985 and an influential minister in the Syrian-controlled Lebanese government since 1990. Rizk, who long collaborated with the PLO leadership, is currently reaping millions of dollars as a business front for Yasir Arafat and his wife Suha.

But there is another twist to this saga. Rizk received a settlement from the PA after Arafat reneged on a financial deal with Rizk:

Apparently, Rizk had been promised, by the Ra'is Himself, a license for his U.S. corporation to develop the communications infrastructure of the West Bank. Unfortunately for Rizk, Arafat had make similar promises to many other people and companies, promising them jobs, tenders and contracts in his future government.

As was Arafat's usual practice, however, none of the promises were ever fulfilled. However, unlike other disappointed parties, Rizk decided to sue Arafat for violating his word and, lo and behold, was awarded $18 million by American reports. As a result, Haaretz reports, U.S. banks froze $80 million of the PA's money, threatening its financial stability. The crisis was eventually ended, according to the newspaper, when the PA sent special envoys to Rizk in Paris to negotiate a settlement.

Arafat a cuckcold, and financially supporting the man his wife steps out with? Who would have thought! It makes you wonder what the price of beards really is in the West Bank.