Al-Seyasah: Shaath to represent the Palestinians instead of Kaddoumi

A well-informed high ranking Palestinian official has disclosed a decision to the Kuwaiti daily al-Seyasah, taken by the PLO executive committee in its recent meeting to assign Palestinian Authority Planning and International Cooperation official Nabil Shaath to preside over the Palestinian representation to any ministerial Arab meeting in the framework of the Arab League instead of the PLO Head of the Political Department Farkouk Kaddoumi, who resides in Tunisia.

According to the said Palestinian source, this decision was not declared yet waiting for the meeting to be held between Kaddoumi with members of the PLO executive committee to inform him about that decision so as to avoid problems that might occur with Kaddoumi who is classified as the foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority, who is known for his strong hostility to the Oslo agreement and continued criticism to them and to the peace process as a whole.

According to the source, Kaddoumi will continue to be the representative for the Palestinian Authority in meetings like the non-aligned movement countries and similar others in the context of international relations.

According to sources close to the Palestinian policy making, the paper said that the PLO executive committee was obliged to take this decision under the pressure of Arab sides, which according to the Palestinian sources, threatened not to attend any ministerial Arab meeting in which Kaddoumi will be the chairman of the Palestinian delegation.