Ramallah - Corruption is still rampant in Palestinian public institutions, a Palestinian anti-corruption agency said Wednesday.

The announcement by The Coalition for Accountability and Integrity-Aman sparked a furor among Palestinian officials, who argued that corruption in general has been reined in.

Aman told a news conference in Ramallah that despite some positive reforms, particularly in the area of public fund management, there is still a "general weakness in the system of combating corruption."

Presenting the coalition's annual corruption report, Aman commissioner Azmi Shueibi said the Palestinian public in general believes that corruption increased in 2008.

He said a public opinion poll conducted in the West Bank between February 6 and 10 on behalf of Aman showed that 55.8 per cent of Palestinians believe corruption went up in 2008, while less than 20 per cent said it has decreased.

The Aman report, based on series of studies, reports, interviews and the public opinion poll, named a few areas where corruption, which it defined as "the use of public position for the achievement of a personal interest," was still widespread in the Palestinian territories.

"Public appointment policy in 2008 was marred by a serious deficiency, namely the incorporation of an additional step involving security checks and clearance for public service posts, which permitted the re-emergence of favouritism and nepotism," the report noted.

In the Gaza Strip, which has been ruled by the Islamist movement Hamas since June 2007, the public sector "has become increasingly politicized," it said.

"Political corruption has been publicly exercised as manifested in the dismissal, termination, transfer or exclusion of public officials believed to belong to the political opponents, who were replaced by new hires of a favourable political affiliation," the report said regarding the situation in Gaza.

In the West Bank, ruled by the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority (PA), the report said that "many forms of favouritism, nepotism, misappropriation of public money and abuse of public position continues to impact on many sectors of the Palestinian society."

Shueibi strongly criticized the Palestinian public prosecutor for failing to follow up on corruption cases and to prosecute corrupt officials.

"The shortage of the resources available at the disposal of the public prosecution capabilities was reflected on its inability to achieve substantial progress in its investigation of corruption files and/or in their referral to the judiciary system," he said.

Reacting to the report, Mahmoud Abu Rub, head of the Financial and Administrative Control and Monitoring Bureau, said that the Palestinian Authority "is one of the most transparent and accountable governments in the region." He said that more than 98 per cent of the
2008 public appointments were made according to the law.

An official from the PA's personnel department criticized the report saying it was based on "rumors" and "public opinion" rather on factual findings. "The report was an exercise of holding some people accountable for reasons I do not know," said the official.

Another official from the general prosecutor's office also defended his office saying that he cannot summon any official for interrogation on corruption charges because security agencies do not bring that official in. (dpa)