Anti-Corruption Campaigner is Headache for Abbas

The Associated Press

March 23, 2010

After getting a top Palestinian official suspended over an embarrassing sex tape, self-styled anti-corruption campaigner Fahmi Shabaneh feels unstoppable. The former Palestinian intelligence agent is already zooming in on his next targets, including his former boss and a top Islamic court judge. He also set up a Web site so ordinary Palestinians can send him evidence of official misconduct, thievery and nepotism. …

Detractors say Shabaneh, fired from his intelligence job in 2008, wants to settle scores and is waging a smear campaign at Israel’s bidding to weaken Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. … Regardless, the brash gadfly has tapped into long-standing popular resentment of the West Bank’s ruling class, and most Palestinians believe him, not the public servants he has in his sights, according to a recent poll.

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