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Palestinians flying to Arafat's side
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-08 08:53
With Yasser Arafat fighting for his life in a French hospital, his top
lieutenants will fly to Paris for consultations with his doctors, a senior
official said Sunday, as Palestinian leaders worked to set up contingency plans
in the event of the 75-year-old leader's death.
Former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas — Arafat's deputy in the Palestine
Liberation Organization — said in a statement that he, Prime Minister Ahmed
Qureia and Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath would leave Monday for Paris.
![A member of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement holds a poster of the ailing Palestinian leader during a pro-Arafat demonstration in the West Bank town of Nablus Sunday Nov. 7, 2004. Critically ill, Arafat spent a fifth day Sunday in the intensive care unit of a French military hospital in Paris, an aide said, as Israeli officials completed plans for a burial in the Gaza strip in the event of his death. [AP]](xin_58110108085234300242.jpg)
A member of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement
holds a poster of the ailing Palestinian leader during a pro-Arafat
demonstration in the West Bank town of Nablus Sunday Nov. 7, 2004.
Critically ill, Arafat spent a fifth day Sunday in the intensive care unit
of a French military hospital in Paris, an aide said, as Israeli officials
completed plans for a burial in the Gaza strip in the event of his death.
[AP] | Qureia and Abbas have been working together
to run Palestinian affairs in Arafat's absence and to prevent chaos and violence
if the Palestinian leader dies. Qureia has taken on some of Arafat's executive
and security powers, while Abbas has been chairing meetings of the PLO's
executive body.
Mohammed Dahlan, a former Gaza security chief, returned to the West Bank from
France with a message for the leaders from Arafat's wife Suha, one of the few
people with access to the ailing leader.
Arafat's illness remained a mystery Sunday, his fifth day in intensive care
at a French military hospital amid contradictory reports on whether he is in a
coma. French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier would say only that he is alive,
though his condition is "very complex, very serious and stable."
Arafat's death and burial are potentially explosive issues.
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the Israeli Cabinet on Sunday that
the military is preparing for possible violence in the event of his death and
would send in reinforcements, according to security officials.
Palestinians officials say Arafat has expressed a wish to be buried at a
hotly disputed holy site in the Old City of Jerusalem, where the Al Aqsa Mosque
compound lies on top of the ruins of the biblical Jewish temples. The site,
revered by Muslims and Jews, is claimed by both Israelis and Palestinians, and
disputes over its fate have torpedoed several peace efforts.
Israel opposes an Arafat burial anywhere in Jerusalem, fearing it would
reinforce the Palestinian claim to the eastern part of the city and become a
pilgrimage site.
Mofaz told the Cabinet that Israeli security officials have completed
preparations for Arafat to be buried in the Gaza Strip, where his family has a
cemetery plot, according to participants at the meeting.
Israel expects many dignitaries to attend the funeral. Those from nations
with diplomatic relations with Israel would be transported to Gaza from Israel,
those from countries hostile to Israel could fly from Jordan to Gaza through
Israeli airspace, security officials said on condition of anonymity.
Palestinians in the West Bank could be bused through Israel to Gaza.
Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat criticized the Israeli plan in
principle.
"I think it's inappropriate to speak about burying people when they're still
alive," Erekat said. "I urge the Israelis to show some sensitivity."
Arafat's clan, the Al-Kidwas, is originally from Gaza, though the Palestinian
leader grew up in Jerusalem and Cairo. The family has a small plot of 25 to 30
graves in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The overgrown patch is in the
middle of a busy vegetable market and would not be considered appropriate.
Other burial options include a seaside plot next to his old headquarters in
Gaza City, or Gaza City's "martyrs' cemetery" east of the city, close to Israel.
Meanwhile, Palestinian officials continued working on plans for governing the
Palestinians in Arafat's absence.
The Palestinian National Security Council, temporarily headed by Qureia,
approved the premier's plan for internal security Sunday, according to
Palestinian officials. No details of the plan were available. In recent days,
Qureia has assumed some emergency financial and administrative powers that
Arafat would normally wield.
Abbas, considered a more likely successor, has chaired a series of meetings
of the PLO executive committee in Arafat's absence in an effort to project unity
among Palestinian leaders.
But neither politician has much grassroots support among Palestinians or
important militant groups.
Four masked gunmen from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent offshoot of
Arafat's Fatah movement, distributed a leaflet in Ramallah saying Arafat is
their only commander, and the only acceptable successor would be West Bank Fatah
leader Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life terms in an Israeli prison.
Palestinian officials have been grumbling that Arafat's wife has assumed new
powers as she tended Arafat, with some pointing out that she had not visited the
West Bank — or even her husband — for three years.
"She is not part of the Palestinian leadership," Arafat security adviser
Jibril Rajoub told Israel's Channel Two TV on Sunday.
In violence Sunday, Israeli undercover forces killed four Palestinians in the
West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinians said. The military said the four opened
fire during an arrest operation.
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