maandag 12 november 2007

Abbas opent Arafat mausoleum

Een echt mausoleum, dat is alleen voor de groten der aarde weggelegd.
Abbas heeft het gisteren, precies drie jaar na zijn dood in Parijs, officiëel geopend.

"We will continue on the path to set up the independent Palestinian state with [Jerusalem] as its capital, God willing," Mr Abbas said.

Hopelijk volgt Abbas niet hetzelfde pad als Arafat, dat van de dubbele tong, van grootschalige steun voor terroristen en een gigantische corruptie. Arafat was niet bepaald groot in de dingen die iemand tot staatsman maken. Als Abbas straks als staatsman en eerste president van Palestina herdacht wil worden, zal hij zich iemand anders tot voorbeeld moeten nemen.


Ratna
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BBC News / Saturday, 10 November 2007, 14:28 GMT
Arafat mausoleum opened by Abbas
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/world/middle_east/7088743.stm

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has unveiled a mausoleum to former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Mr Abbas laid a wreath in the tomb, in the compound where Mr Arafat spent the last two years of his life.

The mausoleum complex cost $2m (£1m) to build and includes a mosque.

The commemoration is the first in a series of honours to mark the third anniversary of his death in a Paris hospital on 11 November 2004.

'Temporary' tomb

The mausoleum measure 11 metres by 11 metres, to mark the day Mr Arafat died.

His death followed a two-year siege of his compound by Israeli forces. Mr Arafat had been flown to Paris for treatment after weeks of mystery stomach pains.

The tomb also includes a minaret which shines a laser beam towards Jerusalem, the city Palestinians want to become the capital of an independent state, said the BBC's correspondent Aleem Maqbool.

Mr Abbas said he hoped Mr Arafat's body would one day be buried in Jerusalem.

"We will continue on the path to set up the independent Palestinian state with [Jerusalem] as its capital, God willing," Mr Abbas said.

The opening ceremony included Palestinian honour guards in navy green uniforms with golden epaulettes, with a brass band playing and prayers from a local imam.

"The monument is built on a natural spring, and the water signifies that it is temporary, for it will be moved to Jerusalem after liberation," project supervisor Mohammed Ashtiyah was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.

The third anniversary of Mr Arafat's death comes towards the end of a divisive year in Palestinian politics, with the militant Islamist Hamas movement overthrowing the rule in Gaza of Mr Abbas's Fatah party, which Mr Arafat founded.

On Sunday, a large rally is due to be held at the West Bank compound, and another held on Monday in Gaza.

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