The Abbas-Arafat Murder Accusation Deepens

Well, this is certainly interesting, another possible nail in the coffin of Abbas's reign as King. I reported on July 14th about the accusations from FATAH senior official Farouq Qaddoumi, the secretary general of the Fatah’s central committee where he claims Abbas colluded with Sharon to murder Yassir Arafat. And now it appears he has tapes to help prove his accusations. FATAH is in serious trouble, never mind about HAMAS and FATAH unity as Fatah has bigger problems to sort out within it's own ranks. Report below:

Source: Qaddoumi has audio tapes supporting his accusations against Abbas

A Palestinian informed source in Damascus revealed on condition of anonymity that Farouk Al-Qaddoumi, the secretary general of the Fatah’s central committee, has audio tapes of late president Yasser Arafat that support his accusations against Mahmoud Abbas and Mohamed Dahlan.

Al-Jazeera satellite channel on Wednesday quoted the source as saying that Qaddoumi has solid evidence including documents and audio tapes made by Arafat when Israel isolated him in his besieged headquarters in Ramallah, specifically when he discharged Abbas from his post as a premier.

The source added that there are also testimonies given by Fatah leaders Mohamed Jihad and Hani Al-Hasan that prove the involvement of Abbas and Dahlan in the killing of Arafat.

According to the source, Qaddoumi is making nowadays contacts with Fatah leaders living abroad and with leaders of Al-Aqsa Brigades at home so as not to leave the arena for Abbas who controls the central committee and the revolutionary council at will while Dahlan oversees everything regarding the sixth conference of Fatah.

The source noted that the majority of the Palestinian factions based in Damascus made a decision to protect and defend Qaddoumi and his national history.

Abbas Decides to Look Democratic

Ya gotta love it. July 15th the, "I won't call a FATAH conference, cos I might get replaced, term ended in January, President Abbas" handed down the orders to ban Aljazeera from broadcasting in Palestine. Original report here. Why? because Farouq Qaddoumi, the secretary general of the Fatah’s central committee accused Abbas of working with Israel's Sharon to murder Yassir Arafat, and he has proof. So, as most dictators do, rather than attempt to defend himself, he bans Aljazeera for carring the report, in other words for reporting "news" he did not like. Now that the story is being covered by many other news organisations, and after looking like an eejit, he's had a re-think and allowed Aljazeera to begin broadcasting again.

Palestine lifts Al Jazeera ban in West Bank

Ramallah, West Bank: Palestinian authorities on Sunday allowed Al Jazeera to resume operations in the West Bank, four days after banning the Arab satellite station over a report linking President Mahmoud Abbas to the death of his legendary predecessor, Yasser Arafat. link

BREAKING NEWS~Abbas Killed Yassir Arafat

FATAH senior official Farouq Qaddoumi, the secretary general of the Fatah’s central committee says President Abbas helped to murder yassir Arafat. No matter how you look at this, FATAH is in trouble. Never mind about reconciliation with HAMAS, they have their own serious problems within, and have for some time. Perhaps if Abbas would stop working with Israel and the US as an agent against this own people, then he would have much more support and less internal problems:

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud ‘Abbas was party to the plot to assassinate the late Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat, a senior Fatah member said on Monday.

Abbas conspired with the Israeli authorities to assassinate Arafat, who died in November 2004, Farouq Qaddoumi, the secretary general of the Fatah’s central committee, claimed at a news conference in Amman on Sunday.

According to Qaddoumi, shortly before his death Arafat entrusted Qaddoumi with documents about a secret meeting between senior Palestinian officials, Israeli officials and American intelligence officers.

The participants of that meeting included ‘Abbas, former Palestinian preventative security chief Muhammad Dahlan and Ariel Sharon, who was Israeli prime minister at the time.

They planned to assassinate Arafat and other leaders of Palestinian factions, Qaddoumi said.

According to the documents, Sharon told ‘Abbas and Dahlan they must work together to kill “all the military and political leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.”

Sharon, according to a summary of the documents presented at the news conference, said that “the first step should be to kill Arafat by poisoning him.”

Sharon said he did not want to expel Arafat without guarantees from the receiving country that the Palestinian leader would be put under house arrest. Without such a guarantee, “Arafat would go back to living on an airplane,” Sharon said, referring to Arafat’s extensive travels around the Middle East before he came to the Palestinian territories in the early 1990s.

Qaddoumi said he urged Arafat to leave the Palestinian territories at the time, but Arafat refused.

‘Abbas proposed, according to the documents, that Israel press Arafat into accepting the assassination of other “resistance leaders.”

Arafat was co-founder of Fatah, and later became the movement’s leader. He took Fatah from armed resistance to peace talks with Israel early 1990s.

Qaddoumi, who is also head of the political department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), accused ‘Abbas of despotic behavior within Fatah.

Qaddoumi’s accusations mark a new high in the tension between rivaling Fatah members.

Qaddoumi represents a segment within the Fatah organization that refuses to recognize the Oslo Accords that led to the creation of the Palestinian Authority, and views Israel as an occupier and not as a potential partner for peace talks.

The run-up to the upcoming Fatah conference was marked by heated disputes within the organization over the venue. The final decision to hold it in Bethlehem was criticized by Qaddoumi, who refuses to hold the conference under what he calls the embrace of the Israeli occupier. He has reportedly proposed to hold a separate conference outside the Palestinian territories to compete with the main gathering.

“I think this is the last thread between Qaddoumi and Abu Mazen,” Shurab told The Media Line, referring to ‘Abbas by his nickname. “In making these statements, Qaddoumi cut any channel between him and Abu Mazen for reconciliation.” entire article here