'Suha Arafat should apologise'

2004-11-08 18:58

Doha - The head of the Palestinian legislative council demanded an apology on Monday from Yasser Arafat's wife Suha over her accusations that the ailing Palestinian leader's top lieutenants want to "bury him alive".

"Suha Arafat has to apologise to the Palestinian people because she was harsh to these people and to President Yasser Arafat during his illness," Rawhi Fattuh told the Qatar-based television Al-Jazeera.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera, Suha said acting Palestine Liberation Organisation leader Mahmud Abbas, Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei and foreign minister Nabil Shaath, "who are trying to inherit his power, want to bury Arafat alive".

Arafat is critically ill in a French military hospital where has been treated since being airlifted from his Ramallah headquarters in on October 29.

"We seriously demand an apology to the Palestinian people," Fattuh said.

"Nobody is thinking about burying Yasser Arafat alive. He is alive and will remain so."

Fattuh said the Palestinian people had "a right to know Yasser Arafat's state of health, all the more because the information is contradictory".

"It is unacceptable that only Suha controls the information. The president is the leader of the Palestinian people.

"President Arafat is not exclusive to one family, he belongs to his people, to the Arab nation and to all militants in the world," he added.

Qorei, Abbas and Shaath have decided that they will travel to France later on Monday to visit Arafat in hospital, Palestinian officials told AFP, after initially cancelling their trip.

- AFP