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| Middle East |
| Yasser refuses to ratify new government |
| 2003-04-14 |
| Palestinian Authority Chairman-for-Life Yasser Arafat has refused to endorse the new Palestinian cabinet formed by the incoming Palestinian premier Mahmoud Abbas. Palestinian sources said Arafat was displeased with a number of new ministers whom he viewed as too critical of his policies. "I mean, these guys're gonna make me feel... irrelevant." A meeting of the Fatah Executive Committee which was supposed to take place on Sunday for the purpose of endorsing the new cabinet was cancelled by Arafat. The sources said the meeting would still take place Tuesday or Wednesday if Abu Mazen made the changes demanded by Arafat. "Cheeze, Yasser! Okay. What do you demand?" "Chuck it." The composition of the 20-member cabinet includes some of Arafat's erstwhile critics. Abbas appointed the former Gaza Preventive Security Chief Muhammed Dahlan as minister of state for interior affairs. Dahlan was quoted as expressing confidence that he could put an end to guerrilla attacks against Israel. However, two former PA ministers, information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo and local affairs minister Saeb Erekat, have refused to join the cabinet. Once the Palestinian cabinet is approved, possibly later this week, President Bush is expected to unveil a 'road map' to Palestinian state. But not before, which means not until... The Zionist regime has voiced serious reservations about the plan and dispatched a Sharon's aide to Washington to press the Bush Administration to take them into account. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #6 The best thing we could do for Mideast Peace is to put Arafat in orange-jumpsuit-land. Until his lethal injection, of course. |
| Posted by: someone 2003-04-14 23:20:08 |
| #5 Arafat needs to go back to Egypt - in a leaky pine box. Not a very big one - about the size of a Cuba Libre cigar box, about half empty. Maybe we need to send him one of those vests we discovered in that school in Baghdad. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-04-14 22:33:36 |
| #4 Yasser is not really a failed dictator, just a wanna be failed dictator. |
| Posted by: Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire 2003-04-14 16:03:09 |
| #3 The biggest obstacle to peace in Palestine is Arafat. I wish he would just hurry up and die. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2003-04-14 15:06:33 |
| #2 Yasser has never demonstrated any sense or ability to be on the right side of history. The nature of totalitarianism. Another failed dictator. |
| Posted by: john 2003-04-14 12:33:55 |
| #1 If there ever was any question about Arafart's desire for one-man rule (as in HIS), this should be proof enough. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-04-14 11:42:28 |