Details of tense meeting between Suha, PA leaders revealed
Leaders warned her that if she did not sign papers to divide Arafat’s fortune, “Palestinians will never give (her) peace and quiet”.
Eitan Rabin
Although the tense relationship between Suha Arafat, wife of the late Palestinian leader, and PA leaders is a well-known fact, new details that have reached NRG Maariv reveal just how volatile the situation really is.
A delegation of Palestinian leaders, including Abu Mazen, Abu Ala, Nabil Shaath and Rawhi Fath, arrived in Paris on Wednesday to visit their dying leader.
Hours before their visit, Suha told al-Jazeera, almost hysterically, that their trip was "a conspiracy to bury her husband alive". Senior Palestinian officials spared no time and lashed out at the Palestinian First Lady.
As soon as the delegation arrived in the French capital, an extremely tense meeting was held between Suha and Arafat’s chief financial advisor and confidante, Mohammad Rashid, and the Palestinian leaders.
“The Palestinian people will never forgive you for what you are doing”, they told Suha. The Rais’s wife began crying and told them, after regaining her composure, that she could not return to live in Gaza with their daughter: “She has no future there”.
Suha told the PA leaders that she was in need of financial security that would allow her to continue living on the same level she had been used to. “We will allow you to live on the same level”, one of the senior leaders told her, “But you must sign an agreement and reveal all of your husband’s bank accounts and investments, and enable the transfer of the funds that belong to the PA. Do not rob this money from the Palestinian people”.
At some point, the leaders even warned her that if she would refuse to sign the papers, “The Palestinian people all over the world will never give you peace and quiet”. She then conferred with her lawyers and family members, after which she returned to the room and signed the papers. As first revealed by NRG Maariv, she received a considerable portion of Arafat’s fortune.
According to Israeli intelligence sources, Arafat was worth almost a quarter of a billion dollars. He had many houses around the world and was heavily invested in US real estate projects.
“Eventually the money was divided up”, one official noted. “Agreements were signed. The Palestinian leaders understood that in order to put their hands on the fortune and get rid of Suha, they would be better off paying her handsomely”.
(2004-11-12 00:51:06.0)
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