The Hindu : International : God willing, I will come back: Arafat

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Saturday, Oct 30, 2004

International

International

God willing, I will come back: Arafat

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, OCT. 29. Israel has issued written guarantees that would allow the ailing Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, to return after receiving treatment for a suspected blood disorder in Paris.

Officials from the European Union were quoted as saying that the Palestinian Prime Minister, Ahmad Qurei, had received a letter from Dov Weisglass, a top aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, assuring that Israel would allow Mr. Arafat to return to the Palestinian territories.

The London-based Arab daily, Al Hayat, also reported that the U.S. consul-general in Jerusalem had informed Mr. Qurei and the Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat, "the American administration has received guarantees from Israel that it will not forbid the return of Arafat."

Favourite saying

Mr. Arafat, wearing an olive-coloured overcoat and a furry hat boarded a Jordanian helicopter heading for Amman en route to Paris. As he was placed aboard the helicopter, scores of tearful bystanders, bodyguards and officials chanted, using his nom de guerre: "We will sacrifice our blood and souls for you, Abu Ammar. The mountain cannot be shaken by the wind," they called out, repeating one of his favourite sayings.

After landing in Amman, doctors carried the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) on a wheelchair to a waiting French presidential jet. "God willing, I will come back," Mr. Arafat, who was laid on a stretcher inside the jet, told aides shortly before the plane departed for Paris.

The French jet, however, had to skirt around Israeli airspace because of lack of authorisation, delaying Mr. Arafat's arrival in Paris by about half-an-hour.

A French official earlier said that Paris had been hoping that Israel would allow the Dassault Falcon aircraft transporting Mr. Arafat from Amman to fly through its airspace.

"This would be easier than turning south and going through Egypt because that would extend the trip by more than a half hour," he said.

With Mr. Arafat leaving Ramallah for an indefinite duration, the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Prime Minister and legislative council will take over leadership in his absence. The Foreign Minister, Nabil Shaath, who travelled with Mr. Arafat to Amman, insisted that Mr. Arafat's absence would be temporary.

"He (Mr. Arafat) is a sick man who needs treatment. That is the first thing on our mind, and for that he should be given time in hospital." Mr. Shaath said all the institutions were in place to run matters in Mr. Arafat's absence.

Powerful institution

Senior Palestinian official Mahmoud Abbas is second to Mr. Arafat in the hierarchy of the PLO — the most powerful Palestinian institution. Under the constitution of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Speaker of Parliament should replace an incapacitated Chairman.

In Ramallah, Mr. Arafat's mother-in-law Reemonda al-Tawil said the Palestinian leader was in good spirits but people were fearful. "We all hope that he will come back safe to us," she said.

"It's very moving, everybody is crying. He is more than a spiritual leader — he is a father, he is everything to us." In the Palestinian territories there was a spontaneous recognition this was a moment of crisis, and people hoped that Mr. Arafat would recover from his illness.

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