On Tlass' comments on Arafat

The Palestinian government has called on Syrian President Hafez al-Assad to remove his defense minister, Mustafa Tlass, after his reported comments in Baalbek on Monday.

The Palestinian government's secretary general, Ahmad Abdul Rahman,said, "We call on President Hafez al-Assad to fire Tlass following his obscene statements on the symbol of the Palestinian people, Yasser Arafat."

Abdul Rahman said, "This man (Tlass) does not deserve to be on the top of the Syrian army, and it is the duty of President al-Assad to quit him because he defames Syria's reputation and the fame of its army."

Last Monday, and in a speech he delivered in Baalbek on the occasion of the Syrian and Lebanese army day which falls on August 1, Tlass allegedly said, talking about Arafat, " Son of a whore. It would sound better if you had not so cowered at the White House and to have said that Jerusalem is the united capital for the coming state of Palestine."

Tlass also reportedly compared Arafat to a belly dancer, but with the difference that whenever he takes off part of his clothes he becomes uglier.