According to Agence France Presse we’re not going to learn much about Yasser Arafat’s condition today:
“There is no change one way or another compared to the health bulletin issued Friday,” said General Christian Estripeau, the spokesman for France’s military medical service.
No statement to the press is planned for Saturday, he added.
On Friday General Estripeau had said outside the hospital treating the 75-year-old Palestinian leader near Paris that Arafat’s health had “not deteriorated” and was considered stable.
So’s Voltaire’s… Meanwhile, in the land of the living, Haaretz reports negotiations in progress that seem to contradict the alarmist Maariv report of yesterday (see below):
As Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat remained close to death in a French military hospital, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and his predecessor Mahmoud Abbas began taking on some of the powers held by the long-time Palestinian leader, a senior Palestinian official said Saturday.
Top Arafat aid Tayeb Abdul Rahim confirmed Saturday that the PA leader’s responsibilities have been divided between Qureia and Abbas, as has been reported in the media over the past several days.
Currently, Qureia holds economic and security powers within the PA and Abbas inherited power within the Palestine Liberation Organization from Arafat.
The main thing is that the next so-called Palestinian leader will not possess Yasser Arafatís charisma. The above mentioned men are not even slightly as famous as he. Arafat perhaps single-handedly kept the nonsense going. He could charm Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. The new guys on the block will have to show results and not merely flap their jaws. Lastly, George W. Bush won reelection. John Kerry would have unwittingly encouraged further violence in the Mideast. The United States will thankfully not return to the stupid Israel policies of the Democrats.
The next leader will not only lack Arafat’s ‘charisma’ (all successful murderers leading political movements carry that), but quite likely will lack access to the mighty slush fund which Arafat has sequestered. Why don’t we see some learned articles on this buried treasure, and the desperate maneuvers which must be occcurring to gain control of it?
Insufficiently Sensitive, here’s an article from the Times of London Fading Arafat fights to keep hold of $1billion war chest
In the meantime, Jack from TigerHawk blog is in Paris, and he reports that all the French press is asserting that Arafat is brain dead. Doctors are not allowed by law to release medical information, so I assume someone’s leaking info on the side.
“M’sieu Arafat, his condition is stable. When we run the current through the electrode, his leg still twitches…”
Hopefully whoever takes the reins from Arafat will be able to the peace-partner Israel can work with.
Unfortunately, this depends on how radicalized the masses of Palestinians actually are.
Not to stir up too much speculation, but the word on the street is that he is dying of AIDS.
Supposedly, Romainia’s secret police – the Securitatae – have known this for some time and have tapes that show him in sexual positions with other men.
Personally, I don’t care if the man was gay, bi, or whatever…however, this would explain the cryptic comments about his ‘mysterious illness’ that no doctor can explain.
Additionally, this may be why France was chosen, perhaps they could protect this sensitive informatioin more than a hospital from the mid-east?