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Cleric and Abbas Okays Clear Way for Arafat Exhumation
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The path has been cleared for the exhumation of Yassir Arafat’s body and a new post-mortem examination to determine whether Arafat died as the result of poisoning. Some months ago, the Al-Jazeera network, acting on behalf of Widow Suha Arafat in the course of preparing a documentary film, had Yassir’s personal effects examined by a lab which found small traces of polonium-210, a radioactive isotope that hit the news several years ago when it featured in a killing linked to Russian intelligence. Israel is already denying allegations that it murdered the Palestinian leader, who died in a French military hospital in November, 2004. French medical records listed the cause-of-death as a brain hemorrhage and were inconclusive about what brought on the underlying conditions Arafat suffered from. The full report on Arafat’s treatment and death was sealed by French officials. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has signed-off on allowing the autopsy to go forward as did a top Muslim cleric.
Israel’s Controversial Security Barrier to be Finished after 5-year Delay
The Israeli army officer in charge of building the nation’s controversial security barrier on Wednesday explained details of the remaining construction to the Supreme Court in preparation for completing the project. Besieged with international condemnations, budget restraints and numerous legal challenges, no work has been done on the barrier during the past five years. Work will resume around the group of Israeli communities lying on land acquired in the 1967 war called the Etzion Bloc, adjacent to Bethlehem where some of the most vociferous protests against the project emanate from. Palestinians claim that the barrier – which is referred to pejoratively as “the wall” even though a small percentage of the almost-500-mile barrier is constructed from 26-foot high concrete slabs – cuts through its communities and separates farmers from their fields. But the Israelis point to the Intifada, the period of unbridled violence between 2000 and 2005 that came to be symbolized by suicide bombs on buses, and argue that as distasteful as the barrier is, it prevents terrorists from reaching Israel’s civilian centers.
Islamic Jihad Tries to Broker Reconciliation Talks between Fatah and Hamas
Trying to break through the stalemate in reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas, officials of Islamic Jihad has invited members of the duelinig factions to meet at its offices in Gaza City on Thursday. The decision came about after scheduled talks in Cairo were delayed indefinitely and tension grew when Hamas suspended the process of registering voters for the impending elections. Plans for a unity government hang on the creation of an interim government of technocrats to rule until elections can establish a unity government that includes Hamas and Fatah. But Hamas has been using the suspension of the voter registration process to demonstrate its angst toward Fatah, ostensibly over the issue of its members in the West Bank being arrested by the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority. The reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas was reached in May 2011 with most of the details to be filled in afterward. But the target date of May 2012 for complete enactment of the agreement came and went with no progress in resolving outstanding issues evident.
Tunisian Media Authority Gives-up; Closes Down
The independent group that came together to reform Tunisia’s media has given up and shut down. Kamal Labidi, the head of the National Body for the Reform of Information and Communication (INRIC) accused the government of “reverting to forms of censorship and disinformation” associated with the regime of ousted President Ali, the first casualty of the Arab Spring. Labidi, who was imprisoned under Ali’s reign, announced on Wednesday that, “the body does not see the point in continuing its work.” He placed the blame on the Ennahada party that took control after Ali’s ouster. According to the French news agency AFP, INRIC was backed-up by the international media group Reporters without Borders which accused the government of trying to control state media.
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