Palestinians demand Syrian defense minister's dismissal
Copyright © 1999 Nando Media
Copyright © 1999Associated Press
By DANA BUDEIRI
JERUSALEM (August 3, 1999 8:26 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) -
Yasser Arafat's advisers call on the Syrian President Hafez Assad
Tuesday to fire his defense minister after reports surfaced that he
insulted the Palestinian leader.
The defense minister, Mustafa Tlass, acknowledged he criticized Arafat
for making concessions in peace talks with Israel in a speech in
Lebanon on Monday. But he denied using insulting language.
On Tuesday, however, Israeli Channel 2 television aired footage of
Tlass' speech.
"Yasser Arafat ... is like a stripper ... but the difference between
Yasser Arafat and the stripper is that the stripper, with all the
clothes that she takes off, gets more and more beautiful. Yasser
Arafat, with every concession that he makes, gets more ugly," Tlass
said.
Arafat, he said, "did not dare to say even one word about Palestine
and about Jerusalem. Why? (He is) the son of 60,000 dogs, the son of
60,000 whores. A whore can give birth only to whores."
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