Israel assassinated Arafat, says Syrian President

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=02d625512bf87f8d

The President of Syria, Bashar Assad, has accused Israel of assassinating former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Reuters quoted the Syrian president as making the claim during a gathering of Arab lawyers on Saturday.

"Of the many assassinations that Israel carried out in a methodical and organized way, the most dangerous thing that Israel did was the assassination of President Yasser Arafat," Assad said.

"This was under the world's gaze and its silence, and not one state dared to issue a statement or stance towards this, as though nothing happened," he added.
more...
Ok this is getting who assasinated who now...

[dchill]

1. Bull - it was Bush!

:shrug:

[bbinacan]

2. I call BS. n/t

[in_cog_ni_to]

3. Oh puhleeze. The man was on his death bed for years.

That's crap. If anyone killed him it was CIA/The idiot-in-chief.

[Posteritatis]

24. I figured he was assassinated by his own immune system... (n/t)

[Poll_Blind]

4. They're (the Iranians and the Syrians) openly goading the US and Israel...

...because they know we will be likely to go marching in there and start some shit.

This is really effective thinking on their part- if we do, they'll beat our asses conventionally, unless we use nukes. They'll continue to give us the North Korean style smack-talk because they know our administration and Israel's conservative government are a bunch of fuming, up-tight conservative assholes who're likely to fall right into the trap.

And so it goes.

PB

[Richard Steele]

Great. This accusation certainly won't increase tensions or anything! nm

[lovuian]

5. Ok this hit Russia's Pravda today

Syrian president indicates rejection of U.N. interview

http://newsfromrussia.com/world/2006/01/22/71548.html
President Bashar Assad indicated Saturday his rejection of a second request by U.N. investigators to interview him in the Rafik Hariri assassination, declaring that Syria would not bow to international pressure.

Assad also used his speech to the Arab Lawyers Union to accuse Israel of killing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 2004, capitalizing on the widespread belief in the Arab world that the longtime leader was poisoned
more...
Things are heating up thats for sure...

[bluestateguy]

6. Horseshit

I my limits with conspiracy theories.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. Good grief.

I guess the Israelis are now responsible for aging people? :eyes: Assad needs a hobby other than Israeli-baiting.

[lovuian]

8. Is he Israeli baiting or getting the Hezzbolah fired up and

Arabs fired up... trying to take the heat of himself...

[Behind the Aegis]

10. Also a possibility.

Especially considering recent Hizb'allah activity in No. Israel. however, it seems most of the Arab world is distancing themselves from him (there a few exceptions, of course).

[lovuian]

11. Except for the Iran President he visited him past week

so it depends who is distancing themselves...

[Behind the Aegis]

14. That was one of the exceptions I was referencing.

Birds of a feather....

[daleo]

9. I like a good conspiracy theory

But when people pushing 80 die from (apparently) natural causes, I tend to give nature the benefit of the doubt. That goes for Arafat and Sharon.

[malaise]

20. Which reminds me

how long will they keep Sharon on life support. WIll it be until the election???

[lovuian]

23. probably

while he is still alive that keeps the party in power...

[daleo]

26. Yes, I agree with the other poster

There is some kind of constitutional distinction between him being totally dead and on life support. It is strange that he should end his days (apparently), with the very mechanical act of his breathing being of political benefit to some and political detriment to others.

[eyl]

27. There's a distinction. but it's moot in this case

Under the Basic Law: The Government (2001), there are three situations regarding the PM's medical state:

1) If a PM dies, it is as if the government resigned on the day of his death

2) If he's temporarily incapacitated, the Vice-PM (or another minister, if there is no Vice-PM) replaces him as Acting PM; if he's incapacitated for more than 100 days, he's considered to be permamently incapacitated.

3) If he's permanently incapacitated, the government is considered to have resigned on the 101st day since the Acting PM began his function (therefore, if he's incapacitated for over 100 days, it doesn't matter if it's temporary or permament; the effect is the same, the government resigns at the same time. The difference is that if he's declared permanently incapacitated, he can't return to his post if he makes a miraculous recovery on day 50, say).

If the government resigns, it doesn't necessarily mean new elections - it just means a new government needs to be formed* (and the President needs to appoint someone else - who's most likely, but not necessarily, from the PM's party - to form a new government). So in theory, the difference is, that if he's on life-support, you could extend the government's tenure for 100 days before needing to form a new government. In this case, however, it was already agreed to hold new elections at the end of March 2006 (which is less than 100 days from now). Because of that, even if Sharon dies today, it's virtually certain that the current government will be reconfirmed until the leections; there's no point in creating a new government for two months, which will in any event be seen as a caretaker government.

*At least, this is my understanding of Basic Law: The Government and Basic Law: The Knesset. One newspaper article I saw said it would require election within 100 days; but in this case, it doesn't matter

[PVK]

12. Per DU rules, should this be here or in the IP forum?

Due to continuing problems, discussion of Israeli/Palestinian issues is limited to the Israel/Palestine forum, and is governed by a special set of rules which are available in that forum. If a discussion is primarily about US policy in Israeli/Palestinian affairs, it is sometimes allowed in other forums. Discussion of other Middle East issues is also sometimes allowed. If a thread is on a different topic, but later goes off-topic and becomes a discussion of Israeli/Palestinian issues, the moderators may move the thread to the Israel/Palestine forum.

[Behind the Aegis]

15. key phrase

"...but later goes off-topic and becomes a discussion of Israeli/Palestinian issues, the moderators may move the thread to the Israel/Palestine forum."

It may or may not happen.

[HuffleClaw]

13. a propaganda duel !

if so? i'm not betting on the bush team.

[sakabatou]

16. Oh for fucking out loud

>_< Iran, Syria, Iraq... It's the Crusades all over again!

[fujiyama]

17. OK, if that's the case

where's the evidence?

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Arafat was old and in poor health, just aas Sharaon was. It wasn't God. It wasn't an assassination. People get old. People get ill. People die.

And Assad is another POS mid east dictator. He's another thug. But if the US is hell bent on attacking him (and they are very highh on the neo con hit list), I'd be interested in hearing theh US spin. AFAIK, Assad, like Saddam, while being authoritaarian, is still secular. Isn't he also Baathist like Saddam? I really never understood how a petty dictatorial regime like the Baathh party could be associated with a violent fanatical religuous funndamentalist group like Al Qaeda.

It looks like him and Ahmedinajad are taking turns in trying to provoke some sort of Israeli assult.

[henslee]

18. I saw Munich. I hardly think it would take them thirty-five years to get

the job done. What a ridiculous notion.

[hang a left]

19. Well it is not the first time I have heard that he was murdered(poisoned)

Take for instance what Arafat's physician said:

snip>

Arafat's doctor, Ashraf Kurdi, told the Al Jazeera satellite TV network that, "Arafat's health condition makes poisoning a strong possibility."

Israelis, who gave Arafat safe passage from his West Bank compound to a French military hospital last week, denied the charge.

"It's absolute nonsense; it's completely ridiculous," an Israeli government source said. Kurdi has not yet diagnosed Arafat's mysterious blood ailment, and last night the 75-year-old Palestinian leader was hovering "between life and death."

snip>
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/story/250074p-214174c.html

another link

snip>

"The doctors until now could not diagnose precisely what is wrong with him, but it is believed there is a poison," Ali Kazak, who heads the Palestinian delegation to Australia, told the Herald Sun newspaper in Melbourne.

Ashraf Kurdi, Arafat's doctor, told the Al Jazeera satellite channel that "Arafat's health condition makes poisoning a strong possibility."

snip>

http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/conspiracy_theory/fullstory.asp?id=169

and another

snip>

According to a leading Jordanian neurologist who regularly examined Yasser Arafat, poisoning was the "highest" possible cause of the Palestinian leader's mysterious death and urged that an autopsy be performed. If it is true then who killed him?

The answer may lie in who really benefits in killing him? Mysteriously, six billion dollars is also missing. According to wide spread rumors within Palestinians, he may have been poisoned by his friends who wanted to get hold of power and his stashed out six billion dollars. Some say, Israel murdered him. But what does Israel gain? His death and an election in January will create a Palestine country sooner than later.

snip>

http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/11-13-04.asp

There are many others

[channa18]

21. Interesting post.

thx

[lumpy]

22. According to article:

The most pointed threat however came in mid-September 2004, just weeks before Arafat's illness. Israeli Prime Minister Sharon was being interviewed to mark the Jewish New Year holiday.

At first he reiterated an earlier threat to expel Arafat from the Palestinian territories at a "convenient" time. But he went on to stress that he saw no difference between Arafat and Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who was assassinated by Israel just six months earlier, and Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, who was killed the month after.

He told reporters, "We took action against Ahmed Yassin and Abdelaziz Rantisi and a few other murderers when we thought the time was right. On the matter of Arafat we will operate in the same way, when we find the convenient and suitable time. One needs to find the time and to do what has to be done."


In the Arab world maybe this is why Arafat's death is held with suspician ?

[name not needed]

25. Yes, because old people never die.