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Arafat’s anointed (Abu Ala) wants guarantees
THE man Yasser Arafat has chosen to be the next Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, says he wants US and European guarantees of support for peacemaking before accepting the post.
How about.....no?
The Palestinian Authority President yesterday nominated Mr Qorei, his parliamentary speaker, to replace Mahmoud Abbas, who resigned on Saturday.
"To hell with this! I'm outta here!"
Mr Abbas said Mr Arafat and Israel had obstructed his peace efforts, and that the US had not given him enough backing.
Not enough backing hmmm. Trying to keep from geting the old house shot up, huh Abbas?
Mr Qorei’s credentials as a highly regarded moderate and an architect of the 1993 interim Oslo peace accords with Israel could endear him to the US and could raise hopes of salvaging a battered US-led peace plan.
highly regarded Paleo moderate = uses a semiauto rifle
Palestinian Authority Minister for Security Affairs Mohammed Dahlan said he would not serve in any new cabinet unless it was headed by Mr Abbas.
Mo’s got his cart hitched to the Abbas horse, he hasn’t noticed it’s dead
There was no immediate reaction from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who was leaving yesterday on an official trip to India. But he has ruled out talks with a Palestinian leadership controlled by Mr Arafat. Israeli Health Minister Danny Naveh, of Mr Sharon’s rightist Likud party, said Mr Qorei’s nomination would not bring a resumption of dialogue, because "the man who is pulling the strings and controlling everything is one person, and it’s Yasser Arafat". Mr Qorei, a veteran politician but one who has little grass-roots support among Palestinians, appears to recognise the difficulties he faces if he takes the job. "I am not prime minister as yet ... I want to see the Americans – what kind of guarantee ... they will (give)," he said.
"what’s in it for me? I want a swiss account like Abu Amar"
Actually... He has one.
"I want to see Europe, what kind of guarantees and support ... they will (give). I’m not ready to go for a failure. I want to see whether peace is possible or not."
Maybe you should look at Gaza, too?
Soon after Mr Arafat’s decision, Israel launched the latest in a series of missile strikes against Islamic militant groups. Helicopter gunships attacked the home of a member of Hamas’s military wing, wounding 15 people, medical workers said. The army said the building was used as a weapons arsenal and that ammunition and explosives blew up after the missiles hit. Mr Arafat’s nomination of Mr Qorei, approved yesterday by the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s executive committee and the Fatah faction, came amid a deep political crisis. Israeli officials said Mr Abbas’s decision to quit was a blow to peace hopes and they renewed calls for Mr Arafat’s expulsion. Mr Arafat had appointed Mr Abbas in April under intense international pressure for reform. The nomination of Mr Qorei, 65, could ease weeks of political confusion in the Palestinian Authority, which had heightened concern that the US-led road map to peace might be beyond saving.
Hamas has taken care of that, I think...
The crisis intensified at the weekend when an Israeli missile hit Gaza City in an apparent assassination bid against wheelchair-bound Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. Sheikh Yassin was only slightly wounded but the group vowed revenge. Mr Sharon told the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper that Hamas leaders were "marked for death".
’Bout time
Posted by: Frank G 2003-09-08
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=18463