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PA plans Muqata burial for Arafat
HAARETZ ^

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.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
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To: cjohnson7771

Waiting for his death to become offical, is like waiting for Ohio to be called for the President. He probably died days ago because the French screwed up. All arafat's top aides are probably making sure everything is secure in their swiss bank accounts before the death is 'called'. All this press for a terrorist. I hope the the people of Israel that have suffered at his hand have a sense of peace right now. Jim


21 posted on 11/09/2004 4:45:39 PM PST by jimfrommaine
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To: cjohnson7771

What does dead mean?


22 posted on 11/09/2004 4:46:13 PM PST by dmw
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To: cjohnson7771

her 4 A.M. outburst on Monday was based on a mi$understanding.


23 posted on 11/09/2004 4:46:21 PM PST by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: cjohnson7771

In before this thread is pulled...


24 posted on 11/09/2004 4:46:32 PM PST by 7.62 x 51mm (• veni • vidi • vino • visa • "I came, I saw, I drank wine, I shopped")
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To: cjohnson7771
It's finally official! Arafat is dead.

Not until reported by Chevy Chase.
25 posted on 11/09/2004 4:46:40 PM PST by CaptSkip
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To: cjohnson7771

But is he rcompletely dead or is only mostly dead?


26 posted on 11/09/2004 4:46:40 PM PST by commish (Freedom Tastes Sweetest to Those Who Have Fought to Preserve It)
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To: PhiKapMom

You forget about Idi Amin.



Ugandans pray for (Idi) Amin

Posted by dennisw
On News/Activism 08/17/2003 4:08:52 PM PDT · 9 replies · 19+ views

24hournews ^ | 17/08/2003 17:12 - (SA)
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Uganda newspaper - Idi Amin is dead

Posted by HAL9000
On News/Activism 08/16/2003 2:33:32 PM PDT · 10 replies · 22+ views

The Monitor (Kampala, Uganda) ^ | August 17, 2003 | David Kibirige
Former president Mr Idi Ami Dada is dead. Amin, 78, passed away at exactly 7 a.m. Ugandan time on Saturday. Sources said that Amin's latest wife, whom he married a few months ago, was at his bedside when he died. Her name was not disclosed. Amin's family members in Kampala declined to comment on the death of the former leader. They said one of his sons, Mr Jaffer Amin working with DHL courier company, is the only one authorised to talk about his father's death. Amin had been in a coma at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in the Red...



UK considered killing Idi Amin

Posted by scotslad
On News/Activism 08/16/2003 1:50:25 PM PDT · 11 replies · 15+ views

BBC ^
The UK's former foreign secretary Lord Owen has revealed he suggested assassinating Idi Amin when he was in government. The former Ugandan dictator died of multiple organ failure in hospital in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Lord Owen, speaking on Radio 4's PM programme, said his proposal was seen as an outrageous suggestion. "I'm not ashamed of considering it, because his regime goes down in the scale of Pol Pot as one of the worst of all African regimes," Lord Owen said. Amin, who was variously described as 78 or 80 years old, had been in a coma at King Faisal...



Former Ugandan Dictator Idi Amin Buried in Jeddah - Son

Posted by HAL9000
On News/Activism 08/16/2003 10:45:35 AM PDT · 11 replies · 23+ views

Reuters | August 16, 2003
KAMPALA (Reuters) - Former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was buried on Saturday in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, where he had earlier died in hospital after being critically ill for weeks. "He is buried. The family decided and we have buried him in Jeddah," Ali Amin told Reuters by telephone from his home in Jinja, 50 miles east of the Ugandan capital Kampala. An official at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah where Amin died told Reuters his body had been taken out for burial in the Red Sea city. One of Africa's bloodiest despots, Amin had...



Uganda Dictator Amin Dies at Saudi Hospital-Source

Posted by freepatriot32
On News/Activism 08/16/2003 3:15:46 AM PDT · 48 replies · 18+ views

wahington post ^ | 8.16.03 | John R. Bradley
JEDDAH (Reuters) - Former dictator Idi Amin, blamed for the murder of tens of thousands of Ugandans in the 1970s, died on Saturday in a Saudi hospital where he had been critically ill for weeks, a senior medical source said "We can confirm that Mr Idi Amin has died from complications due to multiple organ failure," the source at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.



Idi Amin Dead

Posted by MattAMiller
On News/Activism 08/15/2003 10:46:36 PM PDT · 219 replies · 45+ views

Fox News/AP
Fox is quoting AP as saying that Idi Amin has died.



Idi Amin needs a kidney donor

Posted by HAL9000
On News/Activism 08/13/2003 9:59:27 PM PDT · 30 replies · 53+ views

The Monitor (Kampala, Uganda) ^ | August 14, 2003 | David Kibirige
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Idi Amin - 'Big Daddy' living out his final act

Posted by HAL9000
On News/Activism 08/10/2003 10:18:11 PM PDT · 11 replies · 60+ views

Daily Nation (Kenya) ^ | August 11, 2003 | Riccardo Orizio
'Big Daddy' living out his final act Idi Amin denied any atrocities and said he wanted to be remembered only as an athlete As the former dictator lies in a coma, Riccardo Orizio recalls an interview with the man who left Uganda awash with blood. Idi Amin once humiliated four Britons by making them carry his sedan chair. The African master of cruel farce and bloodstain parody has done it again. Apparently hours from death in a Saudi hospital, Idi Amin has emerged from a coma to defy the world once more with his unique form of black theatre....



Ugandan despot Idi Amin gets death threats at hospital

Posted by HAL9000
On News/Activism 08/10/2003 10:42:04 AM PDT · 9 replies · 15+ views

Reuters | August 10, 2003 | John R. Bradley
JEDDAH, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Former dictator Idi Amin, blamed for the murder of tens of thousands of Ugandans in the 1970s, has received death threats at a Saudi hospital where he has been critically ill for weeks, a medical source said on Sunday. Staff at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in the Red Sea city of Jeddah got the threats by telephone on Saturday, prompting mangers to post a permanent guard in Amin's room and another at the entrance to intensive care, the source said. "Security measures were dramatically increased in the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital...



Idi Amin still in ICU

Posted by HAL9000
On News/Activism 08/05/2003 10:59:32 AM PDT · 20 replies · 9+ views

Agence France-Presse ^ | August 5, 2003
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - Former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin remained in stable condition on Tuesday at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of King Faisal Specialist Hospital in this Saudi Red Sea city, a hospital source said. "He is still in the intensive care unit, but he is in a stable condition," the source said. Amin, a Muslim now in his eighties, was admitted to hospital on July 18 and went into coma. Hospital sources said he came out of the coma six days later, but remained in critical condition under close watch by doctors. Hospital officials refused to specify...



DOCTORS GIVE UP ON IDI AMIN

Posted by HAL9000
On News/Activism 08/03/2003 6:25:32 PM PDT · 41 replies · 58+ views

The New Vision (Kampala, Uganda) ^ | August 4th, 2003 | Alfred Wasike
DOCTORS have finally given ailing former President Idi Amin the status of “do not resuscitate”. This is the first time that Amin’s hitherto tight-lipped doctors have come out explicitly about his failing health. Medical sources at King Faisal Specialist Hospital, a top Saudi medical centre in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, told Reuters and Sky News yesterday that “should he encounter further life threatening problems, resuscitation will not be attempted.” Amin, in his late 70s and liable for the murders of tens of thousands of Ugandans in the 1970s, has now been declared by doctors at the posh...



Idi Amin's sickness divides his family

Posted by HAL9000
On News/Activism 08/02/2003 11:34:47 AM PDT · 2 replies · 14+ views

The Monitor (Kampala, Uganda) ^ | August 2, 2003
Amin sickness divides family Deep misunderstandings have developed among family members of former President Idi Amin Dada, currently in a coma in Saudi Arabia. Sources in the Amin family told Sunday Monitor that the issue of Amin’s failing health had been kept secret for three months. Sunday Monitor on July 20 exclusively broke news of Amin’s sickness to the chagrin of some family members. “When the news broke out some family members wrongly accused Madina Amin [one of the former president’s wives] of having issued a press statement about mzee’s sickness to media organisations in Uganda,” said a family...



Ugandan dictator Amin in critical condition-source

Posted by yonif
On News/Activism 08/02/2003 6:03:46 AM PDT · 37 replies · 17+ views

Reuters ^ | 02 Aug 2003 12:12:29 GMT
JEDDAH, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, blamed for the murders of tens of thousands of Ugandans in the 1970s, is in "near-death condition" at a hospital in Saudi Arabia, a medical source said on Saturday. "He is alive but remains in a near-death condition in a coma," the source at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Jeddah told Reuters, adding that Amin was on a ventilator. Amin came out of a coma last week and was said then to be in serious condition.


27 posted on 11/09/2004 4:46:42 PM PST by ConservativeMan55 (http://www.osurepublicans.com)
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To: VadeRetro

All those who think ARAFART is REALLY dead---raise your hand!


28 posted on 11/09/2004 4:46:49 PM PST by fastattacksailor ("Francisco Franco--still very much dead!!")
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To: Petronski

The "Ghoul Pool". We used to play this in the stockmarket.


29 posted on 11/09/2004 4:46:57 PM PST by BunnySlippers (George W. Bush is our president ... Get over it!)
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To: cjohnson7771

LU LU LU LU LU!!!!! BANG! BANG! BANG!


30 posted on 11/09/2004 4:47:00 PM PST by Husker24
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To: elizabetty

ROTF!!!!


31 posted on 11/09/2004 4:47:03 PM PST by RightWingMama
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To: commish

He is somewhat, fairly dead.


32 posted on 11/09/2004 4:47:15 PM PST by dmw
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To: cjohnson7771
I don't know. Sounds to me like it's not official yet. Read the following statement from the article:

"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."

It says a report quotes "senior sources" (unnamed, of course) that Abbas will announce Wednesday morning mid-east time.

Plenty of time to reverse themselves yet again.

33 posted on 11/09/2004 4:47:21 PM PST by Wolfstar (Yippeeeee!!!! A great election victory AND a new puppy in the White House. Life is good.)
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To: cjohnson7771

good riddance to bad rubbish


34 posted on 11/09/2004 4:47:38 PM PST by injin
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To: elizabetty

That's cute. I laughed out loud when I read it. Good work. Jim


35 posted on 11/09/2004 4:47:38 PM PST by jimfrommaine
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To: RightWingMama

Bump!!!


36 posted on 11/09/2004 4:47:42 PM PST by ConservativeMan55 (http://www.osurepublicans.com)
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To: elizabetty

LOL!


37 posted on 11/09/2004 4:47:49 PM PST by Wolfstar (Yippeeeee!!!! A great election victory AND a new puppy in the White House. Life is good.)
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To: jimfrommaine

Still trying to dredge up a tear...nope can't do it!! Anyone else?


38 posted on 11/09/2004 4:47:51 PM PST by libs_kma (USA: The land of the Free....Because of the Brave!)
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To: cjohnson7771

What is he a cat? He has already died according to my count 4 times.


39 posted on 11/09/2004 4:47:54 PM PST by TheRedSoxWinThePennant (Remember the Red Sox won the World Series on George Bush's watch!)
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To: Petronski
Okay, who won the pool?

Apparently, nobody yet. He's not dead. Only "about to become dead". He's not really dead until he is actually dead. Partially dead or about to become dead don't count.

40 posted on 11/09/2004 4:47:57 PM PST by Mad_Tom_Rackham (Time to let slip the dogs...)
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