The Palestinian president has approved a law establishing a new anti-corruption agency, AP reported. President Mahmoud Abbas says the agency will investigate complaints by residents against government officials. The officials will be prosecuted in a special court. There's no word yet on the agency's budget or when the court will be established. Abbas said Saturday that an advisory body has been formed so far. Hundreds of millions of dollars of aid money are believed to have been stolen by cronies of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat during his rule from 1994 to 2004. Since the appointment of former World Bank bureaucrat Salam Fayyad as prime minister in 2007, however, there has been markedly less corruption. -- SPA
