Press fury over Suha Arafat outburst

Suha's role has sparked a war of words

There is unrestrained hostility in several Palestinian newspapers towards Suha Arafat, the wife of the ailing president, after she accused the Ramallah leadership of wishing to "bury him alive".

Al-Quds and Al-Hayat al-Jadidah both give plenty of space to the angry reaction by the secretary-general of the Palestinian presidency, Al-Tayyib Abd-al-Rahim, who accused her of obstructing the Ramallah delegation.

"Suha Arafat neither represents the leadership nor the people," it quotes him as saying.

The paper complains Palestinian officials in Paris know nothing about the president's condition due to French law that gives all information and power to his wife.

"Her accusation that Palestinian officials were trying to bury Arafat alive stirred angry responses from the Palestinian leadership," says Al-Hayat al-Jadidah.

A headline in Al-Ayyam reads: "Suha's statement shocks street and stirs fears".

Her statement - made in a furious phone call to al-Jazeera TV - was described by many people as "irresponsible, provocative and stupid", the paper says.

"People concerned for Arafat's health said had he been alive or conscious, he would not have allowed such statements," it went on.

Al-Hayat al-Jadidah reports that the Speaker of the Legislative Council, Rawhi Futtuh, has asked her to apologize.

And a commentary in Al-Hayat al-Jadidah, by Adli Sadiq, says: "If it was not for our miserable political system, Suha would not have dared to humiliate our people and distort their aims."

Family dispute?

The war of words also catches the attention of Abdallah Askandar, a writer in Tuesday's London-based Al-Hayat, who roundly condemns Mrs Arafat's role in Paris.

"When Mrs Suha Al-Tawil-Arafat spoke about those who are trying to succeed the Palestinian leader while he is still alive, she was not only making defamatory accusations against members of the Palestinian leadership... but also reduced the Palestinian cause, despite its long complicated history, into a mere family dispute."

Basim Abu Sammiah, writing in Al-Hayat al-Jadidah, has a message for her: "I propose to the president's wife - before things deteriorate - that she reveal the secrets she has for the reason his health has deteriorated."

"Who stands behind the 'plot'? What can members of the leadership inherit when the treasury is empty anyway?" it asks.

Confusing picture

Editorials in Tuesday's papers go on to criticise the confusing mix of reports emerging about Arafat's health.

"Our people were surprised again by the media that spread utterances concerning the travel of the Palestinian delegation to Paris... Our people finds it difficult to understand reports that checking on the president's health is limited only to a number of people," says the editorial in Al-Quds.

Haftih al-Barghuthi, writing in Al-Hayat al-Jadidah, stands back from the bitter row and says: "We should not turn our president's sickness into an attempt to settle scores.

"The whole world is looking at us and sees the president through our eyes."

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.