(Ha'aretz) Danny Rubinstein - Yasser Arafat's back. At least that's the conclusion of many Palestinians in light of recent events. While Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas was in Jordan for cataract surgery, Arafat immediately showed he was in control of the situation in the wake of last Wednesday's bus bombing in Jerusalem. (Palestinian newspapers ran obituaries honoring the teenaged "martyr Abdel Muati Shabana, the hero of the Jaffa Road operation.") Arafat immediately ordered the heads of the security services to convene in Ramallah to discuss the situation. Abbas's star is declining very fast and Arafat, as has happened many times in the past, has quickly reassumed control over the leadership.
2003-06-17 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive