The Bad Smell That Just Refuses to Go Away

Yasser Arafat’s wife said her husband is “all right” and lashed out at his top lieutenants Monday, accusing them of traveling to Paris with plans to “bury” him “alive.”

 

In a screaming telephone call from Arafat’s hospital bedside, Suha Arafat told pan-Arab Al-Jazeera television that she was issuing “an appeal to the Palestinian people.” She accused his top aides, who are traveling to Paris later Monday, of conspiring to usurp her husband’s four-decade long role as Palestinian leader.

 

“Let it be known to the honest Palestinian people that a bunch of those who want to inherit are coming to Paris,” she shouted in Arabic, in her first public comments since Arafat fell ill a month ago.

 

“You have to realize the size of the conspiracy. I tell you they are trying to bury Abu Ammar alive,” she said, using Arafat’s nom de guerre. “He is all right and he is going home. God is great.”

A delegation of Palestinian officials decided to postpone their planned trip to Paris on Monday after Yasser Arafat’s wife, Suha, lashed out at his top lieutenants, accusing them of traveling to Paris with plans to “bury” her husband “alive.”

 

The delegation members meant to go to Paris, where Arafat is hospitalized, to consult with Suha about his health condition. Sources in Ramallah said Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, PLO Secretary-General Mahmoud Abbas and Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath were also planning to meet with Arafat’s doctors at the French military hospital.

 

Tayeb Abdel Rahim, a close aide to Arafat, issued a statement strongly condemning Suha for her allegations: “Suha does not represent the Palestinian Authority or the Palestinian people. Yasser Arafat belongs to all the Palestinian people, not just to his family.”

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Suha’s allegations sent shock waives throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Palestinian political analyst Zacharia al-Qaq told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that “the battle of succession has started while Arafat is still alive. Now it’s out in the open and we are likely to see assassinations and settling of account.”

 

Suha has so far refused to allow most Palestinian officials accompanying her to visit Arafat. “She’s holding the president hostage, and many people don’t like the way she is handling the whole affair,” a senior Fatah official told The Jerusalem Post.

 

He said that in the first two days of Arafat’s hospitalization, Suha allowed only three of his associates to see him – Ramzi Khoury, director of Arafat’s office, Nasser Kudwa, his nephew, and Yussef Abdallah, his personal bodyguard.

 

“On the third day she refused to allow anyone to enter Arafat’s room, and that’s why no one knows exactly what’s happening with him,” the official added. “She’s actually in full control. Since then no one has seen Arafat.”

 

Former security minister Mohammed Dahlan, who flew with Arafat to Paris, was also denied access to the Palestinian leader. Dahlan is expected to return home on Monday to brief the Palestinian leadership on the latest developments surrounding Arafat’s health and to complain about Suha’s behavior.

 

“Dahlan decided to leave Paris because he’s fed up with Suha,” a source close to him said. “Suha has been fighting with most of the Palestinian officials over the past week because she won’t allow anyone to see Arafat or talk to his doctors. She has also banned the doctors from releasing any statement about Arafat’s health. This is outrageous.”

Since Yassie’s condition went south last week we’ve heard stories about how the Palestinian leadership and Suha were working together to put together a workable transition once the ghoul officially takes up his new digs in Hell.