Arafat’s wife accuses Palestinian leaders of deathbed coup plot

RAMALLAH – Four of Yasser Arafat’s top lieutenants headed to Paris yesterday to visit the ailing Palestinian leader despite bitter accusations by his wife that they were planning a deathbed coup.

Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei, acting Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) chief Mahmud Abbas and foreign minister Nabil Shaath had initially scrapped the plans to visit Arafat after the outburst of Suha Arafat. But they later decided that they would go ahead with the visit, and were joined by the speaker of parliament Rawhi Fattuh.Their departures means that the five most senior members of the leadership are out of the country at arguably the most delicate moment in Palestinian politics for half a century.”We hope to be able to see him (Arafat) and to get real information,” Shaath told AFP before the group headed to Amman where they took a flight to Paris.Palestinian officials struggled to contain their anger over Suha’s comments, made in an emotional interview on the al Jazeera television network.”A handful of (people) seeking to inherit power are coming to Paris to try and bury Abu Ammar (Arafat) alive.I ask you to look at the extent of the plot,” she said.The head of Arafat’s office, Tayeb Abdelrahim, said the Palestinian leadership was “astonished” by her comments.”Arafat is not owned by a small family.He is for all the Palestinian people and we pray to God that he comes back safe to achieve his dream of a Palestinian state,” he added in a press conference outside Arafat’s Muqataa leadership compound.Fattuh also demanded that “Suha Arafat has to apologise to the Palestinian people” for her comments.Minimal updates on Arafat’s condition have been released in recent days, with Palestinian and French medical officials saying that he remains critically ill in a coma but in a stable condition.- Nampa-AFPBut they later decided that they would go ahead with the visit, and were joined by the speaker of parliament Rawhi Fattuh.Their departures means that the five most senior members of the leadership are out of the country at arguably the most delicate moment in Palestinian politics for half a century.”We hope to be able to see him (Arafat) and to get real information,” Shaath told AFP before the group headed to Amman where they took a flight to Paris.Palestinian officials struggled to contain their anger over Suha’s comments, made in an emotional interview on the al Jazeera television network.”A handful of (people) seeking to inherit power are coming to Paris to try and bury Abu Ammar (Arafat) alive.I ask you to look at the extent of the plot,” she said.The head of Arafat’s office, Tayeb Abdelrahim, said the Palestinian leadership was “astonished” by her comments.”Arafat is not owned by a small family.He is for all the Palestinian people and we pray to God that he comes back safe to achieve his dream of a Palestinian state,” he added in a press conference outside Arafat’s Muqataa leadership compound.Fattuh also demanded that “Suha Arafat has to apologise to the Palestinian people” for her comments.Minimal updates on Arafat’s condition have been released in recent days, with Palestinian and French medical officials saying that he remains critically ill in a coma but in a stable condition.- Nampa-AFP