With just few exceptions, such as the shooting in the mourning tent in Gaza, transfer of power within the Palestinian institutions went smoothly and legally in the aftermath of President Yasser Arafat's death, said Hany Al Masry, writing in the Palestinian daily Al Ayyam. The writer pointed out that powers and authorities were divided between the Palestinian leadership rather than being focused in one man's hands. However, he added, should Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) be named Fateh movement's candidate to the upcoming presidential elections, the Palestinians will face the same old problem, that of having the power concentrated in the hands of one man, an issue that was criticised by all the Palestinians.
The presidential election must take place in due time, and all the Palestinians, including the Jerusalemites, must be able to participate in it, which means the Israeli occupation troops must withdraw from the Palestinian territories and move the military checkpoints. Moreover, the Palestinian National Authority has to decide the timing of the parliamentary and the municipal elections, which will give legitimacy to the new leadership.
Moreover, the writer said, the PLO must call on the Palestinian National Council to elect a new Central Council and Executive Committee soon. Masry concluded that the main weakness in the process taking place now is that it desires to concentrate the powers in Fateh's hands rather than allowing for a power-sharing agreement among political organisations.
The theory that the late Palestinian president was poisoned has many followers in the Arab street because of the absence of any explanations regarding his death. Besides, said Ali Ibrahim in the London-based daily Asharq Al Awsat, there are several issues giving credence to this theory, such as the continued Israeli statements that they will get rid of him by any means and his personal doctor's statement that there must be an investigation on the reasons behind the president's death and even an autopsy.
On the other hand, he said, there are several points that strengthen the theory that Arafat died because of natural causes. The writer pointed out that the Palestinian officials, including the Palestinian foreign minister, denied that poison was the reason for Arafat's death. Moreover, the French health minister and Arafat's Palestinian and Tunisian doctors didn't make any allusion to the fact that the president might have been poisoned. The writer said that the French authorities said that Arafat's family has the detailed information about his health profile, and since his family didn't claim that the president was poisoned, it means that his passing away was because of natural reasons. The writer added that even presidents have a personal life, and Arafat's family does not have to tell the public about his personal life.
Commenting on Colin Powell's resignation as the US secretary of state and the nomination of Condoleezza Rice to this position, the Dubai-based daily Al Bayan said that many opinion pieces were written about the influence this transformation in the administration could have on US' foreign policies. The daily said that such change was expected because Powell was considered a moderate in the US administration, while Rice is considered a conservative. The daily argued that while Powell was considered as a moderate, he supported the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and did nothing to impose justice and UN resolutions in the Middle East.
Therefore, the daily said, what concerns the people in the Middle East is the policies the new secretary of state will impose. The daily said that President George Bush had made three major issues his main target during his new term in office: Fighting terrorism, the Middle East peace talks and political reforms in the Middle East. In this regard, the Arabs want the US policies to be balanced, acceptable and based on the UN resolutions, instead of asking the Palestinian people to fight the so-called terrorism.
Regarding the Sharm El Sheikh conference on Iraq, Wahid Abdul Majed wrote in the London-based daily Al Hayat that it could mark a turning point for the Iraqi cause if the parties agree upon supporting the general elections in the country which are due to take place in the next year. Should the election take place in the due time, Iraq would recover in 2005 and the process of rebuilding the country could begin.
Moreover, he added, hosting this summit means that there are indeed adjustments in the Egyptian stance regarding the Iraqi issue, as Egypt refused to assist the Americans in Iraq and dealt carefully with the Iraqi Interim Governing Council. Therefore, hosting this conference in agreement with the Americans and the Iraqi government means that real modifications in the Egyptian policies are taking place. The writer believes that Egypt acknowledged that rebuilding Iraq isn't considered anymore a success for the US project in the region, and the link between a democratic Iraq and the US project for the Greater Middle East doesn't exist any longer. Moreover, the fear that the US will continue its policies of invading more countries in the region vanished in the aftermath of the US casualties in Iraq.
The writer pointed out that Iyad Allawi has policies that differ from the Americans, but the circumstances in the country make him collaborate with the US as he has no army. The writer concluded that the Arab countries must consider the distinctions between Allawi and the US, and thus support him in his task to recover Iraq.
Thamer Abu Baker
© Jordan Times 2004
