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Middle East
Arabs stick with Yasser
2003-06-03
SHARM EL-SHEIKH — Arab leaders will stand by Yasser Arafat as the “legitimate” Palestinian leader despite his absence at a summit here with US President George W. Bush, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said here yesterday. “Arafat is the elected legitimate leader of the Palestinian people and Abu Mazen is the prime minister,” Maher told reporters as Arab foreign ministers prepared for today’s summit in this Red Sea resort. In addition to meeting the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Bahrain, Bush will meet here for the first time with Mahmud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, who the United States and Israel now support as their main Palestinian interlocutor. The United States and Israel have sidelined veteran leader Arafat, whom they blame for the breakdown of the peace process and the violence that erupted in September 2000.
His involvement in terrorism was bad enough, but his lapse into senility made it impossible...
But Maher, when asked by a reporter about Arafat’s role, scoffed at “all this nonsense of grooming Abu Mazen as a rival to Mr. Arafat,” saying it distracted from more important issues.
Posted by:Fred Pruitt

#7  Oh but it HAS worked out well for the arab leaders.

They don't want to see peace with Israel, they want the Palestinians to be a running sore they can beat America and Israel with. The only Israel they want is a historical aberration razed to the ground and renamed "Palestine".

Peace is the last thing they want, so Arafat is the man for them!
Posted by: Anon1   2003-06-04 01:50:04  

#6  Keep backing those winners, fools. It's worked out really great so far.
Posted by: tu3031   2003-06-03 21:02:03  

#5  Yasser's the status quo. Hereditary presidencies and such will always go with the status quo.
Posted by: Fred   2003-06-03 16:24:59  

#4  i see the israelis opened up borders, released prisoners as goodwill gestures, and sharon even allowed as how as many as 17 West Bank settlements could be dismantled if negotiations so indicated. did i miss the concessions/gestures made by the Arabs, the Palestinians? why is this always a one way street?
Posted by: m rainey   2003-06-03 15:58:42  

#3  As a requirement for receipt of the next aid check, the paleos (and the rest of Arabia) should have to watch that episode of Seinfeld where George decides to do the opposite of his instincts -- and for once things begin to work out right for him.
Posted by: Hrmf   2003-06-03 14:40:41  

#2  "Arabs stick with Yassar"
That's should work well for them.
Posted by: Mike N.   2003-06-03 13:16:40  

#1  We REALLY need to rethink the $2 billion we support these a**holes with
Posted by: Frank G   2003-06-03 13:11:25  

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