Dahlan Corruption Trial to Reopen Next Week

Mohammed Dahlan, the powerful arch-rival to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, will again face a court in Palestine over allegations of embezzling $18 million of public money from his homeland.

Balkan ties

 Dahlan's links to the Balkans date back to his time spent serving the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, who maintained strong links with Yugoslavia in the Non-Aligned Movement. 

His business interests in the region appear to have blossomed in 2006 when he, his elder brother Abdrabou and nephews began to open real estate and construction firms in Serbia and Montenegro.

His role mediating on behalf of the Abu Dhabi royal family, which was looking to invest in the Balkans, began in 2008 with visits to Montenegro.

In 2010, Dahlan and his wife obtained Montenegrin citizenship, although his children were refused it on the grounds that economic dependants do not form part of the "state interest" scheme.

Official documents show that this award was made at the behest of Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, who described Dahlan as a "friend" in parliament.

Dahlan's attention then shifted to Serbia, where he helped forge new diplomatic and economic ties between Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the Serbian government, led in July 2012 by Socialist leader Ivica Dacic and his powerful deputy, Aleksandar Vucic, now Prime Minister.

Abu Dhabi's investments in Serbia include the purchase of 49 per cent of shares in the airline JAT, now Air Serbia, in 2013, and the controversial, multi-billion real estate project called the Belgrade Waterfront.

In recognition of his help, the Serbian government granted Dahlan, his wife and four children, a nephew and five key...