The chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Central Council had a brush with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat Saturday over remarks he made about Egypt's Coptic Christians during a tense council meeting, participants told AFP.
At the end of the session in which the altercation occurred, Salim al-Za’noun, 72, said he was going to hospital for some tests and that two of his deputies would chair the council's crucial two-day meeting on statehood in his place.
A member of the 129-strong council who asked not to be named told AFP that Za’noun caused a stir in the council's opening session when he made a parallel between Jews in Jerusalem and Coptic Christians in Egypt.
"The Jews in Jerusalem will not take more than the Copts took in Egypt," he quoted Za’noun as saying.
Arafat reprimanded Za’noun for making the analogy, which he found completely inappropriate, the council member said.
Abu Ali Mustafa of the opposition Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) joined in after Arafat, criticizing Za’noun in even stronger terms.
Arafat, like Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, is keen to promote good relations between Muslims and Christians. The Coptic population of Egypt is officially put at about six million, and Egypt angrily rejects accusations that they the victims of discrimination.
The PLO Central Council is meeting to decide whether to go ahead with the declaration of an independent Palestinian state on September 13th, despite the failure to reach a peace deal with Israel.
Council members said Arafat would ask them to delay the announcement beyond their September 13th deadline.
The session opened amid warnings from Palestinian officials that the next four weeks held the last chance for peace with Israel.
Participants heard reports from the main Palestinian negotiators in talks with the Israelis -- the PLO second-in-command Mahmud Abbas, the speaker of the Palestinian legislative assembly Ahmed Qorei, and the ministers of international cooperation, Nabil Shaath, of information, Yasser Abed Rabbo, and local admiration, Saeb Erakat.
Arafat, who was initially expected to address the council during the morning, was due to deliver his speech in the evening session, scheduled to start at 6 p.m. (1500 GMT), participants said.
Za’noun made no reference to the incident with Arafat after the opening session, telling AFP that he was having medical tests because he did not feel well. He did not say whether he would be back for the evening session.
Central Council secretary general Mohammed Subeih, who hails from Arafat's faction Fatah, and deputy council chairman Taysir Qubaa from the PFLP will chair the debates in Za’noun's place.
Subeih told AFP that Za’noun was simply tired and that he would keep his position as council chairman – GAZA CITY (AFP)
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