PLO closure in Tunisia part of campaign against Qaddumi in retaliation for accusations

Contributed by Lucia

PLO closure in Tunisia part of campaign against Qaddumi in retaliation for accusations

01.08.09 - 09:15

Ramallah / PNN – The Palestinian presidency is closing the Political Department offices of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Tunisia.

The move comes as part of efforts against Farouk Qaddumi, the PLO Executive Committee member who publically suggested that Mahmoud Abbas and deputy Mohammad Dahlan conspired to kill the late president Yasser Arafat. It was the broadcasting of those accusations that led the Palestinian Authority to target Al Jazeera last month.

It is expected that the Fateh Central Committee elections will be held on the fourth of next month and will then be closed, effectively leaving out Qaddumi.

Informed sources in Fateh told the press that the steps taken by the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas regarding the organizational and administrative closure are motivated by a political decision to pave the way for the removal of Qaddumi who is the President of the Central Committee.

According to these sources, the move means Qaddumi would automatically lose membership in the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization.