Posted on 11/04/2004 5:16:57 PM PST by Time is now
Israeli and Palestinian officials said Arafat died on Thursday in a military hospital in Paris. They said Arafat was deemed clinically dead, but is still attached to life support systems on the insistence of his wife, Suha.
Palestinan Authority's Yasser Arafat: Abbas and Qurei sought to acquire his power to allocate money as the PA chairman departed for Paris. But as he boarded a Jordanian Air Force helicopter, Arafat refused. "I'm still alive, thank God, so don't worry," Arafat was quoted as saying. Reuters/Loay Abu Haykel --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"He is dead, but neither Arafat's wife nor the Palestinian leadership is ready to announce this," a PA official said. "The announcement could take place on Friday." The problem is that Arafat is still the only Palestinian official who can pay the bills. And it is unclear who, if anyone, has access to the estimated $2-3 billion in his personal Swiss bank accounts, according to a report in the current edition of Geostrategy-Direct.com. Even his wife is said to be unaware of how to access the funds.
Arafat continues to hold the purse strings to the Palestinian finances. For the last decade, he has been the final, and often only word on payment to everybody from the suicide bomber to the janitor. Not a dime was paid without Arafat's okay.
Before he left for Paris, Arafat approved a three-member emergency committee to operate the PA and PLO in his absence. Officials said Ahmed Qurei was meant to run the PA's daily affairs while Mahmoud Abbas was appointed acting chairman of the PLO.
Palestine National Council chairman Salim Zaanoun, the third member of the committee, was said to be a symbolic figure.
Abbas and Qurei sought to acquire Arafat's power to allocate money during the absence of the PA chairman. But as he boarded a Jordanian Air Force helicopter for Amman, Arafat refused.
"I'm still alive, thank God, so don't worry," Arafat was quoted as saying.
Israeli officials confirmed that Arafat died on Thursday, Middle East Newsline reported. They said Arafat was termed brain dead and physicians have stopped attending to him.
For Palestinians, the main question is where is Arafat's money?
Issam Abu Issa knows how Arafat appropriated and concealed money. Abu Issa was the founder and chairman of the Palestine International Bank from 1996 until he fled to Qatar in 2000.
"Rather than use donor funds for their intended purposes, Arafat regularly diverted money to his own accounts," Abu Issa said in a report for Middle East Quarterly. "It is amazing that some U.S. officials still see the Palestinian Authority as a partner even after U.S. congressional records revealed authenticated PLO papers signed by Arafat in which he instructed his staff to divert donors' money to projects benefiting himself, his family and his associates."
Arafat controls billions of dollars meant for the Palestinian people. In a word, he stole it, intelligence sources said, according to the Geostrategy-Direct report.
His personal fortune has been estimated at between $2 and $3 billion, most of it in Swiss bank accounts.
In 1997, the PA auditor's office said in its financial report that $326 million, or 43 percent of the annual budget, was "missing."
The United States has been supporting former PA security chief Mohammed Dahlan as Arafat's successor. To his friends in the Bush administration, Dahlan, 43, has all the qualities for Arab leadership: a smooth talker and brutal cop. Arafat asked Dahlan to accompany him to Paris in a move designed to keep him out of the Gaza Strip and any coup plot.
Another challenger has been Fatah Secretary-general Marwan Barghouti, sentenced to life in prison for a series of terrorist attacks. Barghouti, 44, has followers in the West Bank but does not appear to have the iron will necessary to face Arafat loyalists.
Neither Israeli nor PA officials have been told much about Arafat's condition, and the only one authorized to issue information from his hospital bedside is the chairman's wife, Suha.
Sounds like a good time for a pig pickin'.
Gulf Daily News (Bahrain) reports:
Arafat "is still alive. He is not clinically dead. There is no brain death, but his condition is deteriorating," his Jordanian doctor Ashraf Al Kurdisaid. "Because there has been no diagnosis, we don't know what's wrong with him".
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=95839&Sn=WORL&IssueID=27230
They probably consider him alive as long as he is on the machines.
I agree - as long as the blood circulates.
Does the clock start even though his body is being kept "alive" by artificial means?
OR does his wife know the lie that is Islam? That the "paradise" awaiting him is really a burning lake of fire?
I'm not quite dead yet.
Over dinner, DH and I were wondering if the "arab street" would react to 'Fat's death like they reacted to 9-11. Of course, I couldn't let the opportunity pass. Do let me know if this happens, 'K? We'll want pictures, of course! (and my dancin' is at the hope of peace, not at some jerk's death).
Dancing In The Streets
(with the required apologies to Martha and the Vandellas)
Callin' out around the world
Are you ready for a brand new peace?
Arafat’s dead and the time is right
For dancin' in the streets
They're dancin' up in Gaza
Down in Tel Aviv
Up in Jerusalem
All we need is peace, sweet peace
There'll be peace everywhere
There'll be swingin', swayin' and records playin'
And dancin' in the streets
Oh, it doesn't matter who they get
Just as long as ‘Fat is dead
So come on, every guy grab a girl
Everywhere around the world
There'll be dancin'
They're dancin' in the street
This is an invitation
Across the world
A chance for the world to see
There'll be treaties made and opinions swayed
And dancin' in the streets
Philadelphia, P.A. (Philadelphia, P.A.)
Haifa and DC now (Haifa and DC now)
Yeah don't forget Ramalla (can't forget Ramalla)
All we need is reason, sweet reason
There'll be reason everywhere
There'll be swingin', swayin' and records playin'
And dancin' in the street, yeah
Oh, it doesn't matter what you wear
Just as long as you are there
So come on, every guy grasp a girl
Everywhere around the world
There'll be dancin'
They're dancin' in the streets
I hope he's in great pain, terrible fear and suffering unspeakably. May it last interminably
got drugs? Links are accurate, as are titles... sup wi dat?
Yes, I had that fantasy too. Seriously!
follow the link, like I did, and just did again, what's your beef?
"As Coroner, I must proclaim,
I thoroughly examined him,
And he's not only MERELY dead,
He's really most SINCERELY dead."
most EXCELLENT!!! I actually met one of the last survivng members of the Lollipop Guild about three years ago in Myrtle Beach, SC. Very Cool!
I'm waiting on your response to following my links to the original article instead of following crap from another poster.
Yep, that's probably what caused his heart to fail. The only thing that could make this week better would be a nice little November surprise like capturing UBL and replacing 3 Supreme Court Justices.
You're breaking the rules. Links work fine, but if you change the title, we have duplicate news stories wasting bandwidth. Also, it's not bright to argue with the Admin moderator. The descriptive ought to be obvious. I can't BELEIVE you did that.
I'm an herbalist. People keep asking me for lists of poisons that might have caused Yasser's symptoms.
LOOK PEOPLE< THE CREEP IS OLD AND a habitual use of opium laden hashish is not your flipping friend, alright??
Not flaming you...the conspiracists are getting on my nerves in general. Now I'm going to bed.
My point is missed...The title of the article was NOT changed from what clearly linked (it was cut and pasted), the link is accurate and the message from Admin was uninformative. How 'bout an example of the claim?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.