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MAHMOUD ABBAS (ABU /VIAZEN)

Arfat's "deputy," he was born in Salad
in Palestine in 1935. A founding
member of the Fatah movement, he
has devoted 20 years to the search for
a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-
Israeli conflict.
He is a member of the Palestinian
National Council and secretary of the
Executive Committee of the PLO,
and has headed the PLO's
Department for National and
International Relations since 1980.
He is tied inextricably to the Oslo
Accord and committed to a step-by-
step negotiated accommodation with
Israel.
Oslo, he has said, "was a declaration
of principles and not a peace treaty.
Treated right, it would lead us to
statehood. But treated wrong, we
would further consolidate [Israeli]
occupation."

AFTER ARAFAT from page 18

of leading the Palestinian National
Authority may be over.
On the other hand, Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak said any Israeli
attempt to remove Arafat from office

could plunge the Middle East into a new
regional war, something that Sharon says
he, wants to prevent at all costs.
"I don't think anyone on our side is
making any kinds of plans based on all
this," says Israeli Public Security
Minister Uzi Landau. "The question
really is whether an increase in internal
chaos inside the Palestinian Authority
— or even the collapse of the
Palestinian Authority — might be bet-
ter or worse than the present situa-
tion," intoned Landau in an interview
with Jewish Renaissance Media.

8/17
2001

20

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The Secret Topic

While the question of a successor to
Arafat is lively fodder for the Israeli
media, the Palestinians try not to raise it.
"There has been talk about it but
not in public, only behind closed
doors," notes Haitham Hamad, a
reporter for Associated Press Television
who lives in Bethlehem.
In fact, the question turns up over
and over again in conversations, even
though many Palestinians — especially
officials — try to put up a brave front
that there is no reason for concern.

FAROUQ QADDUMI (ABU LUTF)
The PLO's foreign minister and

Syria's favorite among the PLO lead-
ership, he was born in the village of
Qaddoum in 1934. A petroleum
engineer and former member of the
Syrian Baath Party, he was a founding
member of the PLO and Fatah.
His support comes mostly from
Palestinians not in the West Bank or
Gaza who have a long-term antipathy
for Arafat's leadership.
A member of the PLO Executive
Committee since 1969, he played a
major role since the mid-1970s in
developing contacts with the United
States (sNrhich led to its recognizing the
Palestinian right to self-determination)
and European countries. He gained
the recognition for the PLO as sole
representative of the Palestinians in
many countries, resulting in the open-
ing of PLO offices in European capi-

Ghazi Ghreib, a freelance Arab jour-
nalist, says there are absolutely no articles
in the local Arab press — newspapers,

radio or television— on the subject.
"I saw an article on the subject in a
London-based Arab newspaper, but I
wouldn't even fax such an article here
because it would only cause me trou-
ble," he notes. "If I tried to bring such
a press clipping into the country, I'd
either be investigated by the Shabak
(the Israeli security service) or by the
(Palestinian) Authority trying to find
out which side I was supporting."
Even in private conversations, many
Palestinians are wary of discussing who
might become Arafat's successor for a
number of reasons:
• Any discussion of succession in the
Arab world is suspected by Arab rulers
as being tantamount to planning an
assault on the present leadership;
• Succession struggles in the Arab
world have often been very bloody
affairs, sometimes lasting months, even
years;
• Democracy in the Arab world is
rare, and revealing one's ideas and
preferences could prove dangerous,
especially if a future leader believes
someone has supported one of his
rivals;
• And discussion of a leadership
struggle seems unseemly to many
Palestinians who believe they should
concentrate on the current military
confrontation with Israel.

tals and the granting of diplomatic
status for its representatives. He is vio-
lently opposed to the Oslo Accords.

AHMAD QREI'

(ABu ALA')

The speaker of the Palestinian
Legislative Council, he was born in
Abu Dis, Jerusalem, in 1937. He has
been a member of the Central
Committee of the Fatah movement
since 1989 and is a member of the
PLO Central Council and the PA's
economic minister.
Involved in PLO finances when the
organization was headquartered in
Tunis, he was a prime Palestinian nego-
tiator in the secret talks with the Israelis,
which evolved into the Oslo Accords.
Since then, he has sporadically engaged
in negotiations with the Israelis. When
Arafat dies or becomes incapacitated, he
becomes interim president of the PA for
60 days, pending general elections.

Candidates-In- Waiting

Still, some names do crop up with
great regularity.
Foremost among them is Farouk
Qaddoumi. Qaddoumi is not an
official member of the PA, but he is
the head of the political department
of the PLO, its "foreign minister."
He is also a founding member of the
PLO.
Qaddoumi, or "Abu Lutif" as he is
commonly known, opposed the Oslo
Accords. He is regarded as a
Palestinian hard-liner with a strong
allegiance to Syria.
"You have to remember that Abu
Lutif has never been tainted with
any corruption scandals," insists
Ghreib. "He opposed Oslo, and he
has good ties with Syria. And he has

always been seen as a personal friend
of Arafat as well as a founder of the
Fatah movement," the core support
group of the PLO and the PA.
If Qaddoumi succeeds Arafat,
there would be scant chance of a
renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace
process.
Perhaps for that very reason, the
man most Western diplomats and
many Israeli officials would like to
see step into Arafat's shoes is
Mahmoud Abbas, the executive sec-
retary of the PLO, and a man
regarded by many as a moderate.
Indeed, some Israeli pundits call Abbas
"Arafat's deputy," but Arafat, like many

