By Izzat ramini
Albawaba.com - Ramallah
A Palestinian parliamentarian and a prominent Fateh figure denied as “misleading rumors” a report by Haaretz quoting him as saying Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has no power to stop the violence.
Haaretz reported on its internet edition Wednesday that Hatem Abdul Kader had “denied this morning that Fateh had decided to follow Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's instructions for a cease-fire,” adding that “the current Intifada, or uprising, is an entire nation's expression, and no one man could stop it, not even Arafat, who is also chair of the movement.”
“They have not interviewed me,” he said in a statement to Albawaba.com.
“They want to cause a rift between Fateh and Arafat,” he charged. “Arafat has the final say over all matters. He did not in the first place issue orders to fire to cancel them.”
Abdul Kader said the Palestinian leadership has no plans to militarize the Intifada, and firing comes only in response to Israeli attacks on areas under full control of the Palestinians, coded “A” areas in the 1993 Oslo accords.
In its report, the Israeli English daily also quoted Fateh secretary in the West Bank, Marwan Barghouthi as saying "we will widen the circle of clashes with different types of attacks, and we will expand our actions against the soldiers of the enemy, and settlers in the West Bank.”
Fateh leaders have on more than one occasion reiterated that Fateh and the Palestinian movements steering the Intifada will escalate action against Israel, but all ruled out any division inside the mainstream Palestinian party.
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
