Turkey to offer bounty for exiled Palestinian Dahlan

Turkey accuses Dahlan of being a mercenary for the United Arab Emirates and being involved in the 2016 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, left, flashes the V-sign as then Fatah leader, Mohammed Dahlan (R), looks on after their meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, not seen, outside Abbas' office in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, left, flashes the V-sign as then Fatah leader, Mohammed Dahlan (R), looks on after their meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, not seen, outside Abbas' office in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Turkey said on Friday it would offer four million lira ($700,000) for information leading to the capture of former Palestinian strongman Mohammad Dahlan, now exiled in the United Arab Emirates.

"We are working over Dahlan, he will be in the red list," Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Friday to Turkish daily Hurriyet.

As part of the country's fight against the FETO terror group, Ankara will include some foreign nationals who have been involved in the coup attempt.

Turkey accuses Dahlan of being a mercenary for the United Arab Emirates and being involved in the 2016 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The list is divided into five colour-coded categories, with red flagging the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange and grey, depending on the level of threat they pose to Turkey's national security.

According to some Turkish media, Dahlan played a role in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul last year.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu last month accused the UAE of harbouring a terrorist: "There is a terrorist called Dahlan and he is spying for Israel. That is why he fled from the country," he told Al Jazeera in an interview.

Cavusoglu further charged the UAE, which has tense relations with Turkey, with trying to replace Abbas with Dahlan.

Currently, Dahlan is one of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan (MBZ), the crown prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi's, aides.

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Dahlan became a fierce rival of his former ally in the Palestinian Fatah party, Mahmoud Abbas, before fleeing into exile.

Dahlan, 58, was sentenced in absentia to three years in prison in 2016 by a Palestinian court for corruption, and ordered to repay $16 million, according to his lawyers.

He was head of internal security in Gaza, but fell from favour after his forces were overpowered by Hamas in 2007, leading to Fatah's expulsion from the territory.

Mohammed Dahlan has also been on the front pages in the Balkans for bringing UAE money to the region.

In 2015 Serbia granted Mohammed Dahlan citizenship. His wife, four children, a relative and five supporters also received Serbian passports.

The main business that Dahlan brought to Serbia was through deals with the country's arms companies which is known to be a big source of arms distribution in Middle Eastern countries for Israel and US proxies.

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