10-28-2004, 03:22 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Junkie
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Who could follow Arafat
I thought I'd post this interesting article from BBC that gives brief biographies of Arafat's potential successors.
Quote:
Who could follow Arafat?
By Roger Hardy
Middle East analyst
Yasser Arafat has been careful during his long career not to anoint a successor.
Thousands have died during the four-year intifada
Like many other Arab leaders, he has been wary of rivals - and even his closest lieutenants have often been kept on a short leash.
The death of senior Palestinian official Faisal Husseini in June 2001 strengthened the impression that the old guard of Palestinian leaders are gradually fading from the scene.
And since Mr Arafat is now a frail figure in his mid 70s, speculation about who will one day take his place is inevitable.
The contenders
Possible contenders fall into two main categories. There are the older men who have worked with Mr Arafat for a long time and younger figures who have come to the fore more recently.
Those in the first category worked with the PLO - the umbrella body of the Palestinian movement - during its long years in exile in Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia.
They are people Mr Arafat trusts, but Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza tend to regard them as outsiders. They are sometimes dubbed the "Tunisians" and some of them are tainted by accusations of corruption.
In the second category are "insiders", younger men who remained in the Israeli-occupied territories when the PLO was in exile.
They have stronger roots than the "Tunisians", and they acquired their first taste of local leadership during the first intifada, or uprising against Israeli rule, which broke out in the late 1980s.
AHMED QUREI ('TUNISIAN')
Better known as Abu Ala, Mr Qurei is the Palestinian prime minister and a figure closely involved in the secret negotiations which led to the Oslo peace agreement with Israel in 1993.
Born in Jerusalem in 1937, Mr Qurei rose to prominence in the PLO in the mid-1970s, and was close to Yasser Arafat in Lebanon and Tunis, before returning to Gaza with the PLO leader in 1994.
After taking over as the Palestinians' second prime minister in September 2003, Mr Qurei exhibited an independence which sat uneasily with Mr Arafat's autocratic style.
He threatened to resign several times over Mr Arafat's failure to give him sufficient powers, but was always persuaded to stay.
Profile: Ahmed Qurei http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/...es/1932797.stm
MAHMOUD ABBAS ('TUNISIAN')
Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, has long been Mr Arafat's number two in the PLO. The co-founder of the Fatah movement is another moderate who has frequently negotiated with the Israelis.
In early 2003, he was appointed by Mr Arafat as the Palestinians' first ever prime minister. The US, Israel and the European Union, had insisted the Palestinian leader hand most of his powers over to another leader.
Abu Mazen's leadership was meant to open a new chapter in Israeli-Palestinian relations in which the peace plan known as the roadmap was meant to lead both sides towards resolution. He resigned after four months after losing a power struggle with Mr Arafat.
He is an outspoken critic of the use of violence during the current four-year-old Palestinian intifada and tried to get Islamic militants to end attacks on Israel.
Profile: Mahmoud Abbas http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1933453.stm
NABIL SHAATH ('TUNISIAN')
Nabil Shaath has long been one of Mr Arafat's closest advisers and has been an important negotiator in Palestinian-Israeli talks.
Most recently, he has played the role of ambassador to the outside world for Mr Arafat, who is under virtual house arrest in Ramallah.
The former businessman who holds the post of foreign minister has a reputation of being a moderate.
YASSER ABED-RABBO ('TUNISIAN')
Formerly a member of one of the left-wing factions, Yasser Abed-Rabbo is now a senior PLO official. He is a former Palestinian Authority minister of information and culture.
Last year, Mr Abed Rabbo produced the Geneva Accord along with Yossi Beilin, a one-time Israeli justice minister and one of the main architects of the Oslo peace accord. The plan, an alternative to the US-backed road map, sought to define a "final status" solution based on a division close to that of the pre-1967 borders.
Earlier this year, Mr Abed Rabbo was among 60 leading Palestinian intellectuals and officials who signed a prominent advertisement urging Palestinian militants not to carry out suicide bombings against Israelis.
MOHAMMED DAHLAN ('INSIDER')
Mohammed Dahlan is the former security chief in Gaza. As such, he has considerable experience of dealing face to face with the Israelis. He has also enjoyed the confidence of the United States.
Mr Dahlan is without an official post but retains influence in the Gaza strip. He has been courted by international mediators as someone who could instil order there after a planned Israeli pullout next year.
His relations with Israel and the US have been viewed with deep suspicion by some Palestinians.
Profile: Mohammed Dahlan http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2068270.stm
JIBRIL RAJOUB ('INSIDER')
Jibril Rajoub is the former security chief of the West Bank, where he had built up an independent power base.
Like Mr Dahlan, he has fallen in and out of favour with Mr Arafat. But, he is still influential and has considerable experience of dealing with the Israelis. Also like Mr Dahlan he is considered to be a pragmatist.
He speaks fluent Hebrew and English and is seen as acceptable in Washington and Israel. This, however, has affected his grassroots support.
Profile: Jibril Rajoub http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1881756.stm
MARWAN BARGHOUTI ('INSIDER')
He was the head of Mr Arafat's political organisation, Fatah, in the West Bank.
Many believe him to be the most popular Palestinian politician after Mr Arafat.
Mr Barghouti is currently in an Israeli jail serving five consecutive life sentences.
He was a strong backer of the Oslo peace accords and opposed attacks on Israeli civilians inside Israel. after the start of the current intifada in 2000, he became more militant.
He now backs Mr Sharon's Gaza disengagement plan, describing it as a great achievement of the intifada.
Profile: Marwan Barghouti http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/...es/1473585.stm
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I'm embedding the links to the detailed bios (where available) for those who have more than a passing interest in this topic.
I'm wondering what people think? I know there is a lot of animosity towards Arafat in the US (and on this board), but who do you "prefer" from these potential replacements?
Mr Mephisto |
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