PA: Drooly Frog still in charge

[humus_sapiens]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Sto...ng new cabinet

Conal Urquhart in Ramallah
Tuesday April 15, 2003
The Guardian

Yasser Arafat has angrily rejected his prime minister's proposed cabinet, a reaction which endangers the whole process of Palestinian reform demanded by the international community.
He was particularly annoyed that Mahmoud Abbas has passed over his supporters and appointed people he distrusts.

Mr Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, who is keen to start afresh, has retained only one person from the previous cabinet which Mr Arafat appointed as president of the Palestinian Authority, his finance minister Salam Fayyad.

Mr Abbas hopes to demote or remove Arafat loyalists such as Hani al-Hassan, the interior minister, Yasser Abed Rabbo, the information minister, and Saeb Erekat, the local affairs minister.

He wants to appoint Mohammed Dahlan minister of interior affairs (essentially internal security), Nabil Amr information minister and Nasser Yusef, head of the Palestinian national security force, deputy prime minister.

His row with Mr Arafat occurred at a meeting of the Fatah central committee at Mr Arafat's headquarters in Ram allah on Sunday night. Mr Arafat flew into a characteristic rage but then softened, quoting the Koran to try to bring round Mr Abbas and the committee.

"Take pity on an old leader who has fallen," he is reported to have told the meeting.

Other sources close to Mr Arafat said he was finding it hard to let go of his responsibilities, having been so involved in every aspect of Palestinian political life.

Khalil Shiqaqi, a Palestinian political scientist in Ramallah, said that he expected the row to last a couple of days before Mr Abbas either prevailed or baled out and left the peace process in limbo.

"Abu Mazen has been trying his best to form a government that will neutralise Arafat and his supporters as much as possible while also trying to please many other constituencies such as Fatah and the international community," he said.

"Arafat is not happy that his men are being sidelined and that people he tried to marginalise are being promoted. Abu Mazen will either say this is my list, take it or leave it, or he will make a few necessary changes."

The appointment of a prime minister is the first reform demanded by the "road map", which President George Bush has promised to publish soon, setting out the path to an independent Palestinian state and a series of steps along the way.

Mohammed Hourani, a member of the Palestinian legislative council, said Mr Arafat should not concern himself with the composition of the cabinet. "Arafat as president must have a wider vision. He should not concentrate on details," he said.

A significant issue for many of the more senior Palestinian politicians is the elevation of people seen as junior.
...
An opinion poll by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research this month found that Mr Arafat remained the most popular Palestinian leader for 35% of those polled, while the jailed Marwan Barghouti was second with 20%. Mr Abbas, who has virtually no public recognition, scored 3%.
...

[humus_sapiens]

http://www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com

They should hire this guys into the PA cabinet. Impeccable resume: best references from Saddam, paranoid anti-semite, lies through his teeth, complete denial of reality...

[Blueprint]

Mr Abbas hopes to remove Saeb Erekat

I'm starting to like this guy!

Although, what's up with the Guardian reffering to Abbas as "Mr. Abbas"?

[humus_sapiens]

Abu Mazen has been hand-picked by Arafat himself. I wouldn't be very surprised if all this internal squabble is for purely theatrical purposes, as a symbol of separation.

[elke]

Originally posted by humus_sapiens
Abu Mazen has been hand-picked by Arafat himself. I wouldn't be very surprised if all this internal squabble is for purely theatrical purposes, as a symbol of separation.

That's possible; but it's also possible that Abu Mazen is the Palestinian Gorbachev.

[tandem]

this is all bull****... why are the americans so anxious to shove yet another flawed peace plan down israel's throat? if the american and british governments are so concerned about the well-being of the palestinian arabs, why not take 3.5 million of them into your land and just f*** off? it seems the entire world is eager to solve the "palestinian problem" at israel's expense

nothing has changed in the palestinian authority, and nothing will change as long as arafat is there. even though abbas is now the newly appointed prime minister, arafat will not allow palestinian moderates to be members of the cabinet. furthermore, arafat maintains control over all the security forces, including the infamous force 17, and he also has the last say in peace negotiations (not that i need to remind you what happens when arafat is in charge)

so, i ask the americans and the europeans who praise the latest developments in the PA, do you think anything is going to change? nope... the same terrorists are still in charge

[cerulean]

Originally posted by Blueprint
Although, what's up with the Guardian reffering to Abbas as "Mr. Abbas"?

No matter who it is, British newspapers always seem to use an honorific. The person might have just been convicted of the worst crimes ever, but he's always Mr ______. I'm fairly sure they also say Mr. bin Laden and Mr. Hussein.
=======

Originally posted by humus_sapiens
Abu Mazen has been hand-picked by Arafat himself. I wouldn't be very surprised if all this internal squabble is for purely theatrical purposes, as a symbol of separation.

Yes, remember Arafat drawing a gun on his aide? I thought that might have been staged at the time. Whatever happened to that aide anyway?

=======

Originally posted by elke
That's possible; but it's also possible that Abu Mazen is the Palestinian Gorbachev.

You're optimistic! But I suppose it could happen.

[Am Yisrael]

Originally posted by cerulean
[B]No matter who it is, British newspapers always seem to use an honorific. The person might have just been convicted of the worst crimes ever, but he's always Mr ______. I'm fairly sure they also say Mr. bin Laden and Mr. Hussein.
=======

Usually British papers refer to Arafat as "The elected leader of the Palestinian people". When they cant be bothered to type all that after Arafats name, they then call him "Yasser" in a type of freindly way.

[elke]

Originally posted by cerulean
You're optimistic! But I suppose it could happen. [/B]

I would give the possibility that Abu Mazen wants to be a Palestinian Gorbachev a credibility factor of 0.5, and the possibility that he will actually succeed - .25.