Word: yasser
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...Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Prime Minister, announcing that he and Yasser Arafat have resolved their differences on how to achieve peace with Israel...
Mahmoud Abbas and Ariel Sharon were the leaders in the spotlight last week as the Palestinian and Israeli Prime Ministers shared a warm grip-and-grin to launch peace talks. But sidelined Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat retains considerable clout and wants to prove he is indispensable. Abbas, who replaced Arafat at the negotiating table after being named Prime Minister, has secured a cease-fire from Palestinian militant groups. That prompted Israel to begin withdrawals from towns in the West Bank and Gaza. But Abbas faces opposition within his own Fatah faction and must crack down on renegades...
After ignoring the bloodshed for years, Bush is putting pressure on the Palestinians to push aside Yasser Arafat as an obstacle to peace. No such pressure has been put on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who is a contributor to the current wave of violence and has taken virtually no steps toward peace. We wait for courageous leaders to step forward, ones who will implement an end to the occupation and settlements and find viable solutions for the security of Israel, the exiled Palestinians and the future of Jerusalem. JOHN MARTIN Seattle...
...Left. The formal agreements may be between Israel and Abbas, but Abbas has little independent political authority and has, instead, operated as an intermediary between the Israelis and Americans on the one hand, and on the other hand those Palestinians to whom they refuse to speak directly - PA president Yasser Arafat, Fatah militia leader Marwan Barghouti (currently on trial in Tel Aviv on terror charges), and the leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Abbas and Dahlan pointedly refused to accept security responsibility in Gaza without the consent of the militants - in the form of a hudna, the Islamic term...
...Egyptian intelligence, Omar Suleiman, who dispatched assistants to the Gaza Strip to push the terrorist group into talks on a cease-fire with Israel. But those talks are dragging on, and Abbas continues to have his own problems. Last week his security chief, Mohammed Dahlan, met with Abbas' rival Yasser Arafat, a senior Palestinian official tells TIME, and assured him that "I am loyal to you. I am willing to implement your orders." Dahlan seems to be playing both sides of the Abbas-Arafat feud to protect his interests. It's another sign that Abbas' hold on power is weak...