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Palestinian court sentences exiled Abbas rival to two years in jail
Mohammed Dahlan, an exiled former senior Palestinian official, gets jail time for 'insulting state institutions,' after months of mutual recriminations.By Reuters | May 21, 2014
A Palestinian court has sentenced Mohammed Dahlan, the exiled rival of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, to two years in jail for "insulting state institutions," after months of mutual recriminations.
The court ruling was dated March 6, but the verdict was only published in a West Bank newspaper on Tuesday. There was no immediate comment from Dahlan, who lives in the Gulf.
Once a prominent official in Abbas's Western-backed Fatah movement, Dahlan was ousted from the group in 2011 following accusations of corruption. He always asserted his innocence and remains a powerful figure on the sidelines, seen by supporters as a possible successor to the ageing Abbas.
The court ruling said Palestinian officials, including a top security leader, had accused Dahlan of defamation for what they said was his description of Palestinian security forces in the West Bank as guards serving only to protect Israeli settlers.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.592001