Phone Job

So, what's with the 3,000 phones that Abbas tried to smuggle into Palestinian controlled areas. He doesn't look like the Verizon guy, and cellphones are quite useful to terrorists. Abbas's flack took the blame, but it doesn't make the incident disappear. The phones were uncovered when Abbas's vehicle was searched as he transited from Jordan into PA controlled territory in the West Bank.

Palestinian sources confirmed that Fattuh's dirver had admitted to being responsible for the imbroglio. "Fattuh is an honest man who has never been involved in any suspicious activity like this or anything else," one source said.

The Office of Coordination confirmed the details of the story, saying, "This is a grave incident in which there was an attempt to exploit a (VIP) pass."

Fattuh was considered for a long time to be one of the senior members of the PA. He served as head of parliament and was temporarily nominated as PA chairman following the death of Yasser Arafat. He was soon afterwards replaced by the Mahmoud Abbas.

They're used to make remote detonators for IEDs and suicide bomb vests for those who might not be willing to pull the switch themselves.