NEWS: Palestinian Officials Abruptly Call Off Paris Trip UPDATE: Then The Reverse Themselves and The, page 1

Signs of a power struggle within the Palestinian Authority are becoming apparent. , Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, and Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath, currently running the day to day operations of the PA while Arafat is hospitalized, abruptly called off a visit to see the ailing leader in his French hospital.

UPDATE: See the post below. The trip is back on.

story.news.yahoo.com
JERUSALEM - Palestinian leaders abruptly called off a visit to Yasser Arafat's bedside on Monday after the ailing leader's wife accused them of trying to depose her husband.

Suha Arafat's comments and the angry response of the Palestinian caretaker leaders in the West Bank were the first signs of an open power struggle as Arafat clung to life in a Paris hospital.

Mrs. Arafat is one of three people to see him and has tightly controlled any information on his condition.

The current caretaker leaders, Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, and Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath had been scheduled to travel to France on Monday.

But early in the day, in a screaming telephone call from Arafat's bedside, Mrs. Arafat said her husband was "all right" and accused his top aides of coming to Paris to oust Arafat.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

This cancellation came on the heels of Arafat�s wife claims that they were trying to depose her husband. In a phone call to Al-Jazeera television, she stated "You have to realize the size of the conspiracy. I tell you they are trying to bury Abu Ammar alive". Mrs. Arafat who resides in Paris has only allowed a select few to see Arafat and has limited access to his health information. She is also believed to control a vast sum of PLO money.

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[edit on 11/8/04 by FredT]