Palestinian officials and senior political figures met on Saturday to thrash out an ”action plan” as doctors conducted blood tests to see if Yasser Arafat is terminally ill.
Anxious to maintain an air of normality, the top committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) held its regular weekly conference in Arafat’s office in Ramallah. The 75-year-old PLO chairperson had been confined to the battered compound by Israel for nearly three years, until being airlifted to Paris for treatment on Friday.
Despite a show of unity, all the major contenders for the succession to Arafat, who has never designated an heir, are jockeying for position. Mahmoud Abbas, the secretary general of the PLO executive committee, chaired the meeting of a dozen members, but officials cautioned against reading that as a sign that he is ready to take over from Arafat.
”This is a normal meeting about the situation,” said Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian legislator. ”I don’t think we will have a political vacuum.”
The exact condition of Arafat, who arrived in France shortly after midday on Friday, is still unclear. Doctors have ”excluded for the time being any possibility of leukaemia”, Leila Shahid, the Palestinian envoy to France, told reporters.
”We can say his general condition between yesterday and today … is much better, both physically and psychologically,” she said in a brief statement.
Physicians specialising in leukaemia examined Arafat on Saturday to determine whether he is suffering from the blood cancer, Palestinian sources said earlier in the day.
Arafat is being treated at an army teaching hospital in south-west Paris. The hospital was chosen because it specialises in blood diseases. Conclusive results are expected early this week.
When Arafat left Ramallah — for the first time in almost three years — there were only a few dozen supporters there to wave him off. However, people on the streets of the West Bank city on Saturday insisted that he retains a special place in their hearts.
Amit Khayal (25), a merchant, said: ”He is still our president. With him away, it feels like there is something missing. No one can take his place.”
Palestinian leaders took pains to assure their people that it is business as usual in Arafat’s absence. But fears of instability are rife. Arafat has never groomed a successor, and always ensured the removal of anyone who appeared to be gaining too much power.
Mohamad Hourani, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said things are ”going very smoothly”.
”There is no power vacuum. There is a big majority of politicians that realises the sensitivity of the moment. They want to prove they can do things without Arafat,” he said. ”If there will be change, it will come step by step. Ultimately, we want to regain the initiative from the Israelis, and that will take time.”
Kais Abu Leila, the leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and a confidant of Arafat, said there is a danger of ”elements taking advantage of the situation … and causing chaos”.
Some analysts said fears of violence between factions are exaggerated.
”Any infighting will be verbal, not physical,” said Rime Allaf, associate fellow at the Royal Institute for International Affairs.
Israel and the United States have refused to deal with Arafat, accusing him of fomenting terrorism. The Israeli government has dropped its longstanding warning to Arafat that, if he leaves the West Bank, he might not be allowed to return.
An Israeli security source said that this was only because Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had decided the condition of the Palestinian president is ”irreversible”.
Sharon has complained that there is no partner for peace on the Palestinian side, which has forced him to act unilaterally — building a wall through and around the West Bank, and proposing a withdrawal of settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip.
In Jenin, in the northern West Bank, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a 14-year-old boy during an anti-Israel demonstration, Palestinian officials said. An Israeli army spokesperson said troops had opened fire after coming under a hail of rocks and firebombs, but could not confirm casualties. — Guardian Unlimited Â