Arab interior ministers council issues arrest warrant for convicted PA official

The Arab interior minister’s council has issued an arrest warrant for Gaza’s former security chief,  Rashid Abu-Shbak, a close ally of dismissed Fatah leader, Mohammed Dahlan.

The Palestinian prosecution said in a statement yesterday that it had received the arrest warrant from the Council as part of efforts to arrest Abu-Shbak and hand him over to the authorities.

Abu-Shbak has been living in Egypt since 2007. In 2013, the Palestinian anti-corruption court sentenced him to 15 years in prison and a fine of $930,496 for embezzlement, however, Egypt refused to extradite him.

READ: PA calls for extradition of five suspects connected to Dahlan

Abu-Shbak served as head of the Palestinian Authority’s Preventative Security Agency from 2002 to 2006 and head of internal security in Gaza until 2007.

Dahlan, who currently lives in the UAE, was dismissed from Fatah in mid-2011 for harming Palestinian national security. He is seen as the main rival to current Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas.