Flight

And they're off:

"Several top Palestinian Authority officials have fled the West Bank and Gaza Strip since Hamas scored a landslide victory in the January 25 parliamentary election, PA security sources revealed on Sunday.

"In its election platform, Hamas promised to wage a campaign against corruption in the PA and to punish all those involved. Palestinians estimate that over $1.5 billion have gone missing since the signing of the Oslo Accords.

"The sources told The Jerusalem Post that the PA was planning to seek Interpol's assistance in tracking down and arresting the officials, who are suspected of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars of public funds. One of the suspects is Sami Ramlawi, former director-general of the PA's Finance Ministry, who is believed to be living in Jordan.

"The sources denied reports that Ramlawi was detained over the weekend as he tried to cross into Jordan through Allenby Bridge with a suitcase containing $20 million. The reports, which first appeared on a number of Palestinian Web sites, claimed that the money had been hidden in a diplomatic suitcase."