Swiss FM: No evidence of Arafat's money in Switzerland

BERN - Suspicions that the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat stashed money in Swiss banks are apparently unfounded, Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said Thursday.

"I myself have no such information," Calmy-Rey told a news conference when asked about rumors that Arafat had assets in Switzerland.

Calmy-Rey stressed that Switzerland had some of the world's toughest banking rules, forcing financial institutions to identify the origin of all assets belonging to top officials - known as Politically Exposed Persons.

Switzerland has frequently helped other countries track down assets from deposed or deceased leaders.

There have been unconfirmed rumors over the years that Arafat controlled large assets in Swiss banks. Last February the French Justice Ministry said it had opened a preliminary probe into alleged transfers totaling - 9 million (then $11.4 million) in 2002 and 2003 to accounts held by Arafat's wife, Suha, at the Arab Bank and at French bank BNP.

But French officials said they had not ordered a full investigation because they lacked evidence that the funds came from illicit sources. They never requested Swiss judicial assistance, which could have led to a freezing of accounts in Switzerland.

Suha Arafat said all the money she received was sent to her and spent legally. She blamed Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for stoking claims to the contrary to divert attention from his own money-related woes, something Israeli officials dismissed.

At the time, Sharon and his son Gilad were spotlighted in a bribery case involving a failed real estate deal. They were later cleared.

In his four decades as Palestinian leader Arafat ran a murky financial empire said to be worth billions of dollars including PLO investments in companies and bank accounts across the globe.