Arafat Facing PLO Crisis, Confirms Peace Negotiators Want to Quit
PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat said Wednesday that three Palestinian peace negotiators have asked to resign, speaking openly for the first time about a crisis over his leadership of peace talks with Israel. Arafat said the resignations have been referred to the PLO Executive Committee. He gave no date for a decision.
The veteran leader’s comments appeared to be part of a move to reassert his authority over the negotiators from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip who have become frustrated over lack of progress in the 21-month-old talks.
Aides said Arafat is deliberately not rejecting the resignations of Faisal Husseini, Hanan Ashrawi and Saeb Erekat. He was irritated that their move had been leaked to the media.
A statement by Arafat’s Fatah movement, the dominant force in the Palestine Liberation Organization, to the 1.75 million Palestinians in the occupied territories suggested that the negotiators have to accept his orders.
“The behavior of the delegation toward its leadership is the behavior of the soldier in battle toward his commander, completing the task and desiring the goal,” the Fatah statement said.
“All this will lack the slightest basis for success and victory if discipline and the national interest are not his real watchword,” it warned.
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