Views /Editor-in-Chief

Dr. Khalid Al-Shafi
Editor-in-Chief

During the last few days the scandal of the Panama Papers has brought several offshore accounts to light, with global repercussions including strong reactions about the enormous amounts of money kept in the accounts owned by leaders, officials and prominent figures of several countries across the world. 
The documents claim that these leaders manipulated money by creating fake companies on Panama Island to evade tax, hide the source of their money and avoid questioning over its legality.
More than 11 million documents were released to the media by a company that worked hard to extract the codes and access the papers. 

This is the biggest leak in history in terms of the strong and solid contents it included and the money involved.

Now, the pertinent question that arises is: What is the aim of these leaks and their publication at this point of time?
Much has been said about global intelligence agencies which have allegedly targeted some international figures and leaders for blackmailing purposes. Others have talked about deals and concessions that took place.
No doubt, a blind eye was turned to some of the global financial manipulations, but when there is a conflict of interests, secret files come out into the open. FIFA is one example of this.
Discussions on the subject of the Panama Papers are continuing in Europe, and investigations have begun to ascertain whether any of the officials named in the documents have been exploited. Public reaction has been mixed. Some people demanded that political leaders resign while others asked for further investigation. Unfortunately, the leaks included some Arab leaders whose people live in poverty and desperately need support.
Finally, I will say that this wave of new leaks is not the first and will not be the last, because observers strongly believe that money plays a major role in politics and international relations.