Arafat prepared to flee to Baghdad

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Jerusalem Post

(16:30) Arafat prepared to flee to Baghdad

Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat may flee to Baghdad with his close associates if violence in the territories continues to escalate.

Arafat has not paid his staff for two months and Palestinian opposition figures are gaining influence among the general population, according to Jane's Foreign Report.

The Palestinian leader sent some of his senior advisers to Baghdad last month, ostensibly to discuss general Iraqi support for the Palestinians. This visit was reportedly also used to make arrangements for a potential evacuation. One of the emmisaries was Farouk Kaddoumi, who opposed the Oslo agreement between Israel and the Palestinians from the start.

According to the story in Jane's Foreign Report, Arafat is prepared for the time when Israel forbids him to land his plane at the Gaza airport - effectively forcing him into exile.

Iraq's President Saddam Hussein has always been a firm supporter of the Palestinian cause and of Arafat. The Palestinians, in turn, supported Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War.

-- Anonymous, February 22, 2001


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