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| Middle East |
| Damascus Palestinians holler about Yasser's 'disgraceful concession' |
| 2002-05-09 |
| Radical Palestinians demonstrated against Chairman Yasser Arafat's leadership of the Palestinian Authority in Damascus today, calling his deal to end the standoff in Ramallah a "disgraceful concession" to Israel and the United States. About 60 members of 10 Damascus-based Palestinian groups staged a sit-in outside the offices of the Palestinian Liberation Organization in downtown Damascus. Doesn't seem like a real good turnout. Was there a lot of screaming and shootin' guns in the air? Anybody explode? In a statement to the media, the groups rejected the deal struck by Arafat earlier this month under which Israeli troops withdrew from his headquarters in Ramallah on the West Bank in return for six Palestinians being confined to prison in Jericho under US and British guards. The groups also rejected a tentative deal reached over Bethlehem under which most of the people holed up in the Church of Nativity would be allowed to leave as long as 13 Palestinian militants were deported. The deal collapsed today. If there's a deal, there's always that segment that'll reject it. I think this only got play because it happened at all. The numbers involved don't seem much to get excited about. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |