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| Middle East | ||
| Arafat Move Clouds Mid-East Peace Summit | ||
| 2003-05-28 | ||
| Via Washington Times AP link JERUSALEM -- Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is sending a message that he - not Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas - is in charge of peace talks with Israel, countering moves to sideline him and throwing a second Palestinian-Israeli summit into confusion. Yasshole won't go willingly into the void - I'd suggest a 9mm migraine The dispute Tuesday underlined the internal Palestinian power struggle between Arafat and Abbas as efforts to move forward on a new peace plan intensified. Arafat used the date of the second meeting between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as his vehicle. First, Palestinians called off the Wednesday meeting until Arafat had a chance to discuss Israeli proposals with the PLO executive, which he chairs. After the PLO executive meeting Tuesday evening, Cabinet Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said the Abbas-Sharon meeting would take place Wednesday as planned. Then it was Israel's turn to say no. "There will be no meeting Wednesday," Sharon aide Raanan Gissin told The Associated Press. Abbas announced Wednesday that the meeting would "most likely" take place on Thursday. "But at this point in time it has not been confirmed," Abbas told reporters following a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio. Israel Radio reported that the summit would take place Thursday, but officials in Sharon's office said no date had been set and made no further comment. A member of the PLO executive explained that the jockeying for position was Arafat's way of telling the United States, Israel and Abbas that Arafat makes the decisions over negotiations with Israel, using the PLO executive to make the point. George W. will not accept this and has now positioned Arafat as the "roadblock" to the "roadmap" over personal power and jealousy of Abbas - nice move, which can only further sideline the Arafish Abbas took office April 30 under a new law that gives the PLO executive the right of approval over negotiating steps with Israel. Arafat controls the PLO body, where Abbas is his deputy. Arafat has been fighting a rear-guard action to limit Abbas' powers, objecting to the makeup of his Cabinet and inserting many of his stalwarts. He retains control of most of the Palestinian security forces and has kept for himself the final word over peace moves. This counters the Israeli and U.S. intentions to sideline Arafat, charging that he is tainted with terrorism and had led his Palestinian Authority into corruption and inefficiency. tainted? He is terrorism In an interview with the Israeli daily Haaretz, Abbas spoke out in favor of Arafat. "Arafat is the elected president of the Palestinian Authority and should not be isolated," he said, calling on Israel to release Arafat from a virtual house arrest in his West Bank headquarters. Lip service Meanwhile, officials are arranging a three-way summit with President George Bush, Sharon and Abbas early next month, possibly in Jordan. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Tuesday that concrete results could be expected from the summit. "The President would not bother coming all the way out here to leave without a decision of some kind," Shalom told Israel TV. As Clinton learned the hard way, Presidents don't make trips without agreements already reached, and only awaiting a photo-op, handshakes, and a signature
In interview excerpts published late Tuesday on the newspaper's Web site, Abbas said he would not judge Sharon by his statements. "I know Sharon inside and out," said Abbas, who has met Sharon several times. "I'll believe him only when he implements the road map." Palestinians claim all of the West Bank and Gaza for a state and demand a total Israeli pullout. At the United Nations, Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday called Israel's acceptance of the road map "a very encouraging development." Israel has raised 14 reservations about the plan, including a demand that the United States manage the monitoring of the sides' compliance — but UN sources noted the reservations do not explicitly exclude a role for the other members of the quartet: Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. "It is something we will tackle as we move forward," Annan said of the demand. In West Bank violence Tuesday, Israeli troops killed a 16-year-old they said was throwing a firebomb. Two children, ages 7 and 9, were critically wounded in clashes with the military, Palestinian hospital officials said. In Gaza, Palestinians fired salvos of rockets and mortar shells at Jewish settlements and an Israeli town on Tuesday, residents and the military said. No one was hurt. Two rockets fell in the Israeli town of Sderot, less than half a mile from the Gaza-Israeli fence, and four mortar shells exploded in the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim in southern Gaza. | ||
| Posted by:Frank G |
| #3 Suha (Sooooeeeeee!) was just a breeder to continue the Arafat bloodline. I think her agreement with him was that she didn't have to let him touch her again once she had a child. No way she's gonna let him and his ever-present cronies live at her lush Paris digs |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-05-28 11:03:53 |
| #2 Yasshole. Call Sura in Paris. Tell her to find the bank books. Go hang out with her in that million dollar apartment for the rest of your despicable life (oh,lucky her). What's the use of skimming all that aid money if you can't enjoy the fruits of your labor? In France you'd be treated like a god. It worked for Khomeini. Trust me on this. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-05-28 10:20:04 |
| #1 Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is sending a message that he - not Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas - is in charge of peace talks with Israel, countering moves to sideline him and throwing a second Palestinian-Israeli summit into confusion. I suggest that GWB shelve any plans go to to Jordan to get this thing going. All these games on the part of the Paleosimians needs to stop, and until that happens, any moves to put peace talks into action should wait. Preferably until Arafart is DEAD. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-05-28 10:07:59 |