Posted on 11/08/2004 8:40:37 AM PST by NormsRevenge
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Yasser Arafat's wife Suha, long dismissed by Palestinians as a spoiled socialite, had not even seen her husband for years until he fell sick last month. But she has suddenly emerged as a major player in the succession struggle for Palestinian power.
In a one-minute telephone call to the Arab satellite network Al-Jazeera, she set off a political storm Monday, accusing her husband's top aides of conspiring to replace the 75-year-old leader in a behind-the-scenes power grab.
The 41-year-old Mrs. Arafat, who until now remained largely outside the political scene, said top officials aimed to "bury" her husband "alive." A Christian convert to Islam, she ended the phone call with "God is Great" - often used as a Muslim war cry.
The comments angered Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and the PLO's number two, Mahmoud Abbas, who nearly postponed a trip to Paris to consult with Arafat's doctors. They later decided to go ahead with the visit and left the West Bank for France on Monday.
Tayeb Abdel Rahim, a senior Arafat aide, called an urgent news conference early Monday to declare the Palestinian leadership's anger over Mrs. Arafat's remarks.
"What came from Mrs. Arafat doesn't represent our people," he said, accusing her of "wanting to destroy the Palestinian leadership's decision and to be the lone decision maker."
Mrs. Arafat has lived since 2000 in Paris - far from her husband, confined in his Ramallah headquarters in the West Bank. But the health crisis has vaulted her to the center of events.
Since Arafat's hospitalization 10 days ago in a military hospital outside Paris, his wife has largely controlled access to the symbol of Palestinian national aspirations.
Palestinian officials, the Israeli media and analysts blamed her for the fog surrounding her husband's condition, saying her silence has created a vacuum that has been filled by a slew of rumors.
In recent days, she has aligned herself with Palestinian officials opposed to the current leadership, including Abbas, Palestinian officials said.
She's found herself in a common position with the PLO's hard-line foreign affairs chief, Farouk Kaddoumi, who opposed the 1993 interim peace accords that led to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority.
The hard-line group appears to be jockeying for control of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the most powerful and influential Palestinian body.
Some analysts said Mrs. Arafat, who has received a generous monthly stipend from her husband and is under investigation by French authorities for alleged illegal transfers of $11.4 million into her accounts, is elbowing into the Palestinian political scene.
But it remained unclear why.
"It appears to be a kind of conflict over money and properties, because Suha has no political position in the Palestinian system," said Palestinian newspaper commentator Hani Masri. However, it is also possible she is planning a political overthrow, he said.
"This is an indication of the trouble that will emerge in the post-Arafat era. Even the Palestinian leadership appears to be failing in handling this issue," he said.
A Nablus-born Christian, Suha served as Arafat's secretary when he was in exile in Tunisia. In 1991, Mrs. Arafat converted to Islam and married the Palestinian leader.
He was 62. She was 28 - and unpopular from the start.
Conspiracy theories raced through Palestinian streets that her mother, Ramonda Tawil, a well-known Palestinian journalist, arranged the marriage as a way to control Arafat.
Suha Arafat generated more animosity when she arrived in the largely Muslim, conservative Gaza Strip in 1994 and refused to cover her long blonde hair with the traditional Islamic head-covering.
Her expensive Parisian clothes and the luxury BMW she drove around Gaza's poverty-stricken streets enraged Palestinians.
She also frustrated the Palestinian leadership by making statements contrary to official policy. Once she expressed sympathy for militant groups when the Palestinian Authority was in a heated battle to put them down.
In 1999, she embarrassed then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton by accusing Israel in a speech of using poisonous gas on Palestinians and increasing cancer rates. In her book, Clinton referred to the hug and kiss from Mrs. Arafat at the speech as the "worst" mistake of her senatorial campaign.
In 2002, after Arafat condemned "all terrorist acts which target civilians," Suha told a London-based Arabic newspaper that if she had a son "there would be no greater honor than to sacrifice him for the Palestinian cause, "
Yet in 2000, when violence erupted, she fled to Paris with her young daughter, Zahwa. She returned to the West Bank last month when Arafat fell ill, rushing to his Ramallah headquarters and then accompanying him to Paris.
"It's an absurd situation that Suha is sitting there and deciding when, how and who," Sufian Abu Zaida, a Palestinian Authority official, told Israel's Army Radio.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) and his wife Suha hold hands prior to Arafat's departure from his compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah in this file picture released by the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites) Friday Oct. 29, 2004. Arafat's wife lashed out at his top lieutenants Monday, accusing them of traveling to Paris with plans to 'bury' Arafat 'alive.' (AP Photo/Palestinian Authority, Hussein Hussein)
Aha......there has been a lot of false information posted around here about her being a Christian.
Looks like she's trying to become the Evita of the PA.
She must have found out where he hid the money.
You've got that right.
Let's see...
1. Arafat is dead
2. PLO guys want to go to France and get on with their chaos but...
3. Mrs. Arafat is freaking out that they will turn off the $ spigot so..
4. She calls the Arab stations, screaming, trying to put off the power transfer so...
5. She can figure out what the heck the password is to his Swiss Account so..
6. Little Arafat Jr. can still hang out with the French bourgeoisie and she can shop till she drops in Paris long after the Palestinians are duking out over what's left of the monies...
IMHO...
Mahmoud Abbas (L), Secretary-General of the PLO executive committee, and Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath (R) wait in the V.I.P terminal at the Alenbey Bridge crossing point between Israel and Jordan just before they leave on their way to Paris November 8, 2004. Palestinian leaders headed for Paris to see critically ill President Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) at a French military hospital despite a scathing attack by his wife who accused them of plotting to 'bury him alive.' Amid an increasingly bitter row over Arafat's fate, Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie, Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath and PLO Secretary General Mahmoud Abbas were on route to Jordan, from where they planned to fly to France aboard a private jet. REUTERS/ Nir Elias
Yasser Arafat (news - web sites)'s wife Suha accused Palestinian leaders on November 8, 2004 of plotting to 'bury him alive,' but they decided to go ahead with a visit to the critically ill Palestinian president at a French military hospital. Suha is seen in Ramallah October 28. Photo by Nir Elias/Reuters REUTERS/Nir Elias
Interim Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) leader Mahmud Abbas leaves his offices in the West Bank city of Ramallah.(AFP/Thomas Coex)
Islamic Jihad militants participate in a rally at Hebron University. The radical Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements said accusations by Yasser Arafat (news - web sites)'s wife that three of his top lieutenants want to "bury him alive" reflect the deep divisions at the heart of the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites).(AFP/Hazem Bader)
How to call the hogs to the trough in Arabic........Suuuuuuuuuuuuha Suuuuuuuuuuuuuha....Suuuuha.....Suuuuhaaaa !
Whole lotta cash at stake here. Fun to watch.
Sounds like Suha may be wearing a What Would Hillary Do bracelet.
"God is Great" ,,, but "Cash is King" .
Sounds like mouthy is a good candidate for Arkancide if she keeps her yapping up...
then boys don't cotton to no loud mouthed sheilas...
Suha Arafat sits under the portrait of her husband, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites), during an interview in this March 22, 1998 file photo at her Gaza home. Suha Arafat accused Arafat's top lieutenants of seeking to grab power from her ailing husband Monday, Nov. 8, 2004, prompting three top officials to postpone their trip to the Paris hospital where Arafat has been hospitalized for twelve days. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
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