Free Republic

Palestinian security forces in Ramallah on Monday arrested a suspect in the murder of Samir Rantisi, a local journalist and spokesman for former PA Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo. Rantisi, 42, had for years urged Palestinians to endorse non-violent methods in their confrontation with Israel and was strongly opposed to suicide bombings. He was murdered early Monday morning while he was sleeping in his bedroom in the Sateh Marhaba neighborhood. A lone gunman who broke into his apartment in the Shkukani Building shot him twice in the head in front of his wife. The wife managed to identify the suspect,...

May. 15, 2005 19:25 | Updated May. 15, 2005 22:47 Who's the Palestinian president? By KHALED ABU TOAMEH Farouk Kaddoumi addresses the United Nations Photo: AP RAMALLAH The PLO executive committee's recent decision to declare Mahmoud Abbas as President of the State of Palestine has enraged veteran PLO leader Farouk Kaddoumi, who has dismissed the move as illegal and unacceptable. Kaddoumi, who is based in Tunis, said in a message he sent to many PLO and Fatah leaders in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that the executive committee did not have the authority to relay the powers of the...

Feb. 20, 2003 PLO political department head slams decision to appoint prime minister to PA By KHALED ABU TOAMEH The head of the PLO's political department, Farouk Kaddoumi, Thursday condemned Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's decision to appoint a prime minister for the PA, describing the move as "ridiculous" in the absence of a Palestinian state, constitution or presidency. Kaddoumi is the first senior Palestinian official to speak out in public against the decision to appoint a prime minister for the PA. Other officials have also criticized Arafat for succumbing to international pressure, but have refused to go public. Their...