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Top Palestinian Official Passes Away
KUWAIT CITY, May 31 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Faisal al-Husseini, the top Palestinian National Authority official for Jerusalem, died in Kuwait on Thursday of a heart attack.
"Husseini has passed away," said a Palestinian official in the delegation accompanying Husseini on his visit to Kuwait to attend a conference against normalization of ties with Israel.
Palestinians mourned the loss of Husseini, one of the most prominent fighters for the Palestinian cause.
Crowds gathered at Husseini's office at the Orient House in occupied east Jerusalem, where a black flag was raised and loudspeakers broadcast verses from the Holy Qu'ran.
"The Palestinian people lost a great hero and leader. He devoted all his life to Palestine and Jerusalem and to challenging the Israeli occupation," Palestinian cabinet secretary Ahmed Abdel Rahman said in Gaza City.
He said the body of Husseini, who died at the age of 60, would be taken from Kuwait to Amman and then to Jerusalem.
Farouq Kaddumi, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization's political department, said "It's a great loss for the Palestinian people."
While waiting for the body to arrive from Kuwait for Friday's funeral, Husseini's son Abdel Qader Husseini received condolences at Orient House, the unofficial Palestinian headquarters in occupied east Jerusalem where his father had his office.
Husseini's son, in his 20s, appeared overcome with emotion at one point and had to be led away from the reception room.
"It's catastrophic for all Jerusalem," said Emile Jarjoui, a member of the Palestinian legislative council here.
"We have lost a hero and a fighter. Faisal Husseini devoted his life to defending Palestine and Jerusalem. Palestine is in his heart," he said.
After the solemn announcement of the death of Husseini, Palestinian television played nationalistic songs and the radio also broadcast Qu'ranic verses.
Three days of mourning have been declared.
Husseini is to be buried next to his father, Abdel Qader Husseini, who died in the 1948 war following the creation of Israel, at a cemetery in the al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam.
As the Palestine Liberation Organization official in charge of Jerusalem and part of a long line of legendary Palestinian leaders and aristocrats, he symbolized the Palestinian struggle for east Jerusalem as capital of a future state.
"It's a black day for the old city. Jerusalem has lost a fighter, teacher and symbol of the national movement," said Ahmed el-Batsh, a member of the legislative council in Jerusalem.
Arabs viewed Husseini as one who united rural and urban dwellers, Christians and Muslims, and one who also tried to bridge the divide with the Israelis.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization in Lebanon blamed Kuwait Thursday for the death of al-Husseini, and called for a police investigation to be launched.
"We do not exonerate the state of Kuwait from its direct responsibility in the death of our martyr Faisal al-Husseini, and we hold it responsible for all the provocations which targeted him," said Sultan Abul Aynain, who heads Fatah in Lebanon from the refugee camp of Rashidiyeh, near Tyre in southern Lebanon.
He called for "the opening of an investigation into the circumstances which surrounded the death of one of our leaders who symbolizes the fight against the judaization of Jerusalem."
Husseini's visit to Kuwait, in response to an invitation to take part in Thursday's conference of the Kuwaiti-based Popular Congress for Struggle against Normalization, was not welcomed by many Kuwaitis.
Members of the Kuwaiti parliament reacted angrily to the visit and warned their government against any rapprochement with the Palestinian Authority, saying it has yet to apologize for siding with Iraq during the 1990-91 Gulf crisis.
Husseini arrived in Kuwait on Tuesday as the first senior Palestinian official to visit Kuwait in 11 years.
"This is a clear message. I have spoken to my colleagues who promised to take tough and decisive action when they feel that the Kuwaiti Government intends to normalize relations with the Palestinian Authority," legislator Saleh al-Fadalah said.
Husseini met the Kuwaiti parliament's foreign affairs committee on Wednesday and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah.
"We discussed bilateral relations. The two sides feel that this issue must be sorted out correctly, because it is in our interests to put an end to this unsuitable atmosphere and restore ties," Husseini said.
Husseini's comments on improving ties with Kuwait triggered an uproar in Kuwait's parliament. Several MPs went further by telling him that Arafat was "persona non grata" in Kuwait.
Arafat, meanwhile, said Thursday that Husseini's death should be the impetus for "a greater determination to establish peace in the Middle East." He did not call for an investigation or voice any suspicions that the cause of death was other than natural.
Arafat is in Brussels for meetings with European officials and hopes to convince them to send EU observers to the Palestinian territories. He will leave for Jordan later Thursday.
Al-Husseini's body was flown to Jordan from Kuwait Thursday to an emotional welcome attended by Husseini's brother, son and numerous dignitaries.
Husseini's son, Abdel Qader, and brother, Mussa, were among two hundred people who waited on the tarmac of Marka civil airport to meet the A310-300 from Kuwait.
Top Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erakat, his eyes red with tears, Jordanian minister of State Adel Shreidi and several Arab ambassadors, including the ambassador of Kuwait, were also there.
Hussein's coffin, draped in a Palestinian flag, was carried shoulder-high by several men, including Erakat, and placed in a military vehicle. The vehicle then led a motorcade out of the airport to the Jordan Hospital, where the body is to be kept overnight.
Arafat is due to arrive in Jordan at dawn Friday to escort Husseini's body to Ramallah on the West Bank in a helicopter provided by the Jordanian authorities.
As a prominent member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Husseini had spent many years in Israeli jails and under house arrest.
Using the Hebrew he had taught himself to be able to reach out to Israelis, Husseini was a frequent guest on Israeli television and radio talk shows, explaining the Palestinian point of view.
Husseini's father, Abdel Kader, had been a symbol of armed resistance to Israel. In the 1948 Mideast war, the elder Husseini led Arab troops and was killed at the age of 40 in a battle over Jerusalem.
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