Posted on 11/09/2004 4:41:41 PM PST by cjohnson7771
Last Update: 10/11/2004 02:25 PA plans Muqata burial for Arafat
By Arnon Regular and Ronni Singer, Haaretz Correspondents
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Sha'ath put an end Tuesday to nearly two weeks of speculation by declaring Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's life in a Paris hospital was "now in the hands of God and his doctors."
A late-night report by Itim quoted senior Palestinian sources as saying that PLO Secretary General Mahmoud Abbas - the most senior Palestinian politician after Arafat - would announce in Ramallah Wednesday morning that Arafat had died.
According to the report, Arafat was already dead as of Tuesday night, but the Palestinian leadership would make the official announcement only after Abbas returned to Ramallah from Paris, via Amman, overnight.
Arafat's bureau director, Tayeb Abdul Rahim, indicated in Ramallah Tuesday night that the Palestinian leadership had decided to turn the Muqata into a mausoleum for Arafat, making it his final resting place until circumstances allow him to be buried in Jerusalem.
Israel's security cabinet will meet Wednesday morning to discuss funeral arrangements. Sources said that Israel will not oppose a burial in Ramallah if the PA asks for it, although Israel would prefer that Arafat be buried in the Gaza Strip.
Israel informed international leaders that the Palestinians do not have sufficient forces in the West Bank to provide security for the funeral, but that political considerations overrode security considerations. According to political and defense sources, Israel cannot prevent the Palestinians from burying their leader in Palestinian areas, and will only oppose burial in Jerusalem and Abu Dis.
The cabinet will also discuss the issue of foreign leaders expected for Arafat's funeral, especially from the Arab world. The ministers will decide whether Israel should insist that any foreign dignitary arriving at the funeral will come through a land border and go through Israel security, or a special air corridor will be open for Arab leaders to arrive by helicopter from Jordan or Egypt.
Egypt, meanwhile, is offering to host a funeral service for Arafat in Cairo, a Palestinian official said Tuesday night. An envoy arrived in Ramallah late Tuesday night with the proposal, said Ahmed Subah, the deputy information minister. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak offered to hold the service for Arafat at the Arab League in Cairo, ahead of burial in Ramallah, said Subah.
At his Paris news conference, Sha'ath made clear that the doctors are unable to pinpoint the reasons for Arafat's low platelet count, which require constant blood transfusions. According to Sha'ath, tests show that Arafat's heart, lungs and brain are functioning. But doctors at the French hospital said his coma deepened overnight.
A long day of speculation and rumors climaxed in the simultaneous, coordinated news conferences in Paris and Ramallah. During the day, which began with the report of the deepening coma, there were also reports that Arafat had died, later refuted by Sha'ath.
In Paris, PLO Secretary General Mahmoud Abbas, PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia', Sha'ath, and Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Rouhi Fathi were allowed into the hospital, where Arafat's wife, Suha, greeted them warmly, said Sha'ath, only 24 hours after accusing them of conspiring to "bury alive" her husband.
Sha'ath later explained that she had been under enormous pressure, and her 4 A.M. outburst on Monday was based on a misunderstanding.
Doctors at the hospital spent two hours with the four Palestinian officials, informing them that tests had ruled out cancer or poisoning as the reason for Arafat's decline. Then the four picked Qureia to enter Arafat's room for a first-hand look at the Palestinian leader, on what they all conceded was his deathbed.
Sha'ath rejected talk of "euthanasia" saying it was contrary to the Islamic faith, and that in any case Arafat was not in any pain that needed to be alleviated. He said that Arafat had not been in a coma for years or even months, which might have required alleviating the family's suffering.
While refusing to comment on the prognosis directly, Sha'ath gave the impression that Arafat had only a few more hours to live. However he refused to discuss funeral arrangements for the rais, saying that Arafat's life was in God's hands, and it was inappropriate to talk about funeral arrangements while Arafat was still alive.
Without saying so directly, Sha'ath ruled out any recovery for the Palestinian leader. Asked about "the day after," Sha'ath spoke about the Palestinian Basic Law explicitly calling for the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council to take up the acting role of chairman and then holding elections within 60 days.
In Ramallah, however, Rahim, flanked by chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, said that "all the necessary arrangements" would be made at the Muqata, which was immediately understood to mean that the funeral would be held in the compound where Arafat had been under siege by Israel since December 2001.
Presumably, the large empty field used as a helicopter pad to lift Arafat out of Ramallah and fly him to Amman - where a flying hospital flew him to France last week could serve the large gathering of mourners expected, including many foreign statesmen.
According to Western diplomatic sources in Jerusalem, messages have been passed through diplomatic channels between Israel and the Palestinian leadership, with Israel saying it would not apply security restrictions on foreign statesmen coming to the funeral.
Israel still prefers Gaza as a better locale for the funeral, particularly since the Arafat family owns a cemetery plot there, and security would be easier to control for the Palestinians.
But the Palestinians have apparently given up trying to obtain a grave plot for Arafat on either the Temple Mount or in Abu Dis, and are now focused exclusively on Ramallah and the symbolism of a Muqata funeral.
Among the foreigners anticipated for an Arafat funeral are Libya's Moammar Gaddafi and many other Arab leaders. However reports that the funeral is slated for Ramallah have some worried about security.
Thanks! I sent my complaint on Specter to the Muskogee office.
Received this from Sen Inhofe in my email today on Specter:
Dear xxxxxx:
Thank you for contacting me about the selection of Senate committee chairmen. As your voice in Washington, I appreciate being made aware of your views.
The rules for determining the chairmen and ranking members of committees in the United States Senate are decided by the party conferences. After a new Congress is sworn in, the majority party, (in this year's case the Senate Republican Conference), meets to determine its leadership for the new Congress. Committee assignments are given to returning and new Senators. Under Senate Republican Conference rules, the most senior members of each committee are usually chosen as chairmen and are limited to serving only six years. Once the committee assignments have been decided, the Republican committee members meet to recommend chairmen of each committee to the full Republican Conference. After this recommendation is submitted, a secret ballot is conducted among all the Republican Senators to approve or reject the recommendation.
When the Republican Conference meets to determine committee chairmen for the 109th Congress, I will keep your thoughts in mind. Again, thank you for your comments. Please do not hesitate to contact me again.
Sounds like it is still a deep comma.
BRILLIANT
(O= Officer of the Palestinian Authority, C=Chief Medical Officer) O: Oh yes, the, uh, the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority...What's,uh...What's wrong with him? C: I'll tell you what's wrong with him, my lad. 'E's dead, that's what's wrong with him! O: No, no, 'e's uh,...he's resting. C: Look, matey, I know a dead Arafat when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now. O: No no he's not dead, he's, he's restin'! Remarkable Arab, the Palestinian...., idn'it, ay? Beautiful headscarf! C: The headscarf don't enter into it. He's stone dead. O: Nononono, no, no! 'E's resting! C: All right then, if he's restin', I'll wake him up! (shouting at the body) 'Ello, Mister Arafat! I've got lovely fresh humus for you if you show...(Officer hits the bed) O: There, he moved! C: No, he didn't, that was you hitting the bed! O: I never!! C: Yes, you did! O: I never, never did anything... C: (yelling and hitting the body repeatedly) 'ELLO YASSIR!!!!! Testing! Testing! Testing! Testing! This is your nine o'clock alarm call! (Takes body off the bed and thumps its head on the counter. Throws it up in the air and watches it plummet to the floor.) C: Now that's what I call a dead Arafat. O: No, no.....No, 'e's stunned! C: STUNNED?!? O: Yeah! You stunned him, just as he was wakin' up! Palestinians stun easily, major. C: Um...now look...now look, mate, I've definitely 'ad enough of this. That Arafat is definitely deceased, and when I checked it not 'alf an hour ago, you assured me that its total lack of movement was due to it bein' tired and shagged out following a prolonged speech. O: Well, he's...he's, ah...probably pining for Jerusalem. C: PININ' for JERUSALEM?!?!?!? What kind of talk is that?, look, why did he fall flat on his back the moment I got 'im out of bed? O: The Palestinian prefers kippin' on the floor! Remarkable Arab, id'nit, squire? Lovely headscarf! C: Look, I took the liberty of examining Arafat when I got it back in bed, and I discovered the only reason that it had been sitting on the chair in the first place was that it had been NAILED there. (pause) O: Well, o'course it was nailed there! If I hadn't nailed that Arab down, it would have tried to run out of here to go back to Ramala, and VOOM! Feeweeweewee! C: "VOOM"?!? Mate, this Arab wouldn't "voom" if you put four million volts through it! 'E's bleedin' demised! O: No no! 'E's pining! C: 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This Arafat is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the seat 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-ARAFAT!!
She may need more bodyguards than Yasser ever had.
Or they've got his money at any rate..
Sounds like this funeral will be more raucous than the Wellstone Nuremberg rally...
Ya gotta love modern medicine...it allows you to keep a dead man alive as long as neccessary with a ventilator, while his successors argue about the money he stole and left somewhere...thus allowing plenty of time for the Muslim burial requirement once you find the bank codes.
"Yasser...I hear you loud and clear...stop shouting...also, yes... your virgin is ready.
however, I am running short of pretty virgins and young boys
...but she is quite manly...I think you will like her...I know she is quite fond of you..."
But not for what Yassar used them for
LOL see my #82.
Nice job :)
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