Word: arafats
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...unlikely architect of the President's latest setback in the Middle East is Yasser Arafat, the aging Palestinian Authority president who remains besieged by the Israelis in the ruins of his Ramallah compound, and had been left for dead politically by the Bush administration. Sidelining Arafat had been a precondition for the administration's renewed engagement in the stalled peace process, but the resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas - appointed under strong pressure from the Bush administration - and his replacement by Ahmed Qureia is a reminder that Arafat still remains in charge of Palestinian affairs...
...Bush administration approach has been to act as if Arafat simply didn't exist - although it continued to restrain Ariel Sharon from expelling the Palestinian leader from the occupied territories, mindful of the regional crisis that such a move could trigger. Instead, Washington would simply ignore the elected leader of the Palestinians and deal only with the prime minister designated by the U.S. as Arafat's successor. And, so the theory went, by showing ordinary Palestinians that Abbas's pursuit of the roadmap brought progress towards statehood and an end to the occupation, Arafat would be cast into the dustbin...
...events didn't turn out quite that way; Abbas's departure underscores Arafat's continued centrality to the political process in the Palestinian Authority. If anything, the failure of the roadmap process to significantly alter the desperate plight of Palestinians living on the West Bank and Gaza actually restored and strengthened Arafat's standing among his own people...
...course, Arafat spared no effort to undermine his prime minister - hardly surprising, since it had been made clear to the world that Abbas's success would mean Arafat's demise. Nor was undermining Abbas especially difficult, given how little the new prime minister managed to win from the Israelis by way of easing the occupation. Arafat blessed the cease-fire Abbas had negotiated with Palestinian radical groups, but held tightly to the reins of the PA security services when the prime minister sought to consolidate them under his control in line with the "roadmap." When the struggle for control came...
...leaders and five Hamas funding organizations. But those groups are in Europe, and it's hard to imagine Hamas leaders' having accounts that can be easily frozen. Powell phoned Arab and European leaders for help in pressuring the Palestinian Authority. He even broke the Administration's silent treatment toward Arafat, appealing to the sidelined President, who still wields considerable power over the Authority, for help. Powell wants Arafat to lend the Authority the security forces under his control to make Abbas strong enough to challenge the militants. According to a Palestinian source, before he acts, Abbas wants guarantees from Arafat...