The Palestinian Authority played down a damaging row with the United Nations yesterday after declaring its Middle East envoy persona non grata, casting a cloud over an upcoming General Assembly debate on Israel's "illegal" West Bank barrier. A day after veteran leader Yasser Arafat's top aide said Terje Roed-Larsen was "not welcome" in the occupied territories, a senior official insisted the envoy was still free to talk with Palestinians. "There has been no formal decision to boycott Roed-Larsen," Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei's chief of staff, Hassan Abu Libdeh, told AFP.
| "Of course, we're not guaranteeing some of the boyz won't try to shoot him up..." |
Roed-Larsen has previously been something of a bete noire for the Israelis over his outspoken criticism of the occupation of the territories. But he ironically won praise from the Israelis after he told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that there was a "steadily emerging chaos" in Palestinian areas and that Arafat had shown a "lack of political will" to reform his government. Arafat's senior adviser, Nabil Abu Rudeina, said Larsen's declarations "were unacceptable and he is not welcome in Palestinian lands."
| "Y'say what we wanna hear, or y'can't have none of our fabled hospitality!" |
Palestinian Authority's chief UN representative, Nasser Al-Kidwa, said: "We have not decided anything". Palestinian Telecommunications Minister Azzam Al-Ahmad yesterday insisted: "There is no row back ... no contradiction ... Mr. Roed-Larsen is persona non grata but not barred from entering our territories."
| "I don't think that word means what you think it means..." |
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