The PA succession battle continues to occupy the Palestinian street and this time it focuses on PA Chairman Abu Mazen and his relationship with his predecessor Yasser Arafat.
It seems that senior members of the Fatah movement are trying to reveal sensitive material that incriminates Abu Mazen and suspects him of being responsible for the death of Yasser Arafat.
At the end of last month, protocols and testimonies of senior Fatah and PLO officials before the PA legislative committee regarding the circumstances of Yasser Arafat’s death were published on the Telegram channel.
About 300 people who were close to Yasser Arafat were questioned by the investigative committee, including members of his personal guard, ministers and advisers and also the former Prime Minister Salam Fayad, Arafat’s advisers Akram Haniya and Bassam Abu Sharif, Ruhi Fatouch head of the PNC and senior PLO officials Hanan Ashrawi Ahmed Kriya and Yasser Abed Rabo.
The leaked evidence deals with the shaky relations that existed between Abu Mazen and Yasser Arafat and the fierce rivalry between them, apparently to create the impression that Abu Mazen had a strong motive to bring about the death of Yasser Arafat.
The investigative committee was established in 2009 and was headed by a senior member of the Fatah movement, Tawfik al-Tirawi, who at the time was the head of the Palestinian General Intelligence.
Al-Tirawi claimed in response to the leaks that they were distorted and intended to damage his credibility.
The timing of the leaks is not accidental, the leaks of the investigative committee’s protocols reached the social networks at the height of the crisis between Tawfik al-Tirawi and PA Chairman Abu Mazen.
The chairman of the PA recently dismissed al-Tirawi from the headship of “Al-Iistiklal” University in Jericho as punishment for the recordings in which he was heard defaming Hussein al-Sheikh, the designated successor of Abu Mazen, and Fatah Secretary General Jibril Rajoub.
Bassam Abu Sharif, Yasser Arafat’s former advisor whose testimony was leaked to the media confirms that it is true, according to him, there were three parties who were interested in Arafat’s death and they are: the US, Israel and his political rival Abu Mazen.
He claimed that Abu Mazen tried while he was prime minister to destroy the authorities of Yasser Arafat with American backing.
Muhammad Rashid, Yasser Arafat’s economic adviser, said in his testimony before the committee that Abu Mazen was the only beneficiary of Yasser Arafat’s death, he refused to help in lifting the Israeli blockade over the Muqataa in Ramallah and to visit Arafat in the hospital in Paris.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh , adviser to Abu Mazen said in his testimony before the committee that then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was the last Arab leader to speak on the phone with Yasser Arafat and warned him, he told him :”It is possible that our conversation is being recorded…I suggest you hand over your power and I know what I am talking about”.
Senior Fatah member Adli Sadek claims that he heard from the Palestinian leadership that they believe that the leaker is Tawfiq al-Tirawi who did it to “play his cards” and make it more difficult for Abu Mazen to oust him from the Fatah movement.
The Hamas-affiliated “Shiab” news agency claims that the Palestinian Authority intends to file charges against Tawfiq al -Tirawi whom it blames for the leaks.
Senior officials in Fatah claim that it is Hussein al-Sheikh who is responsible for the leaks in order to create a conflict between his bitter rival Tawfik al-Tirawi and PA Chairman Abu Mazen.
Abu Mazen accused Muhammad Dahlan in a speech he gave in 2014 at the Revolutionary Council of Fatah claiming that he is responsible for Arafat’s death.
Many on the Palestinian street tend to accept the claim that PA Chairman Abu Mazen was indeed involved in the death of Yasser Arafat and that he made sure to poison him through the Palestinian dentist who treated him during the siege of the Muqataa.
Abu Mazen is furious about the leaks and it is estimated that he will take revenge on everyone who is involved in them, he has already taken revenge on 3 senior officials who testified against him in the commission of inquiry like Farouk al-Kadoumi, Ahmad Abd al-Rahman and Ahmed Kurea, he made sure to keep all three of them away from the political arena.
The last word in the case has not yet been said.
