Ruler of Kuwait refuses to shake hand with Arafat

The Lebanese daily al-Safir said in its today's issue that the rule of Kuwait Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah refused on Tuesday to shake hands with the chairman of the Palestinian government while they were offering condolences on the demise of the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad at al-Shaab palace in Damascus.

An eye- witness said that Arafat was sitting beside the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh at one of the Palace's Hall, facing Sheikh Jaber and he then ( Arafat ) came in to greet him but the Emir of Kuwait refused to respond to the greetings of the Palestinian president.

Last month, in what was viewed as a sign of great change in Kuwait's position after ten years of cool relations with the Palestinian leadership due to its position during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the first deputy for the Kuwaiti Premier and the foreign minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah and the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat hugged each other, on the sideline of Yemen's celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the unity of the two parts of north and south Yemen in 1990.