By Izzat Ramini
Albawaba.com - Ramallah
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat will not attend the funeral of Leah Rabin, widow of slain prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, according to a Palestinian senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity on Monday.
Albawaba.com had earlier contacted Tayib Abdul Rahim, secretary general of Palestinian Presidency, who did not confirm or deny Arafat’s participation in bidding farewell to Rabin.
The Jerusalem Post newspaper had confirmed that Arafat would attend the funeral on Wednesday, quoting a Palestinian official.
AFP reported that Israel said Arafat could pay his condolences to the family of Leah Rabin, who died of cancer at the age of 72.
Asked by Israel radio if he was considering allowing Arafat to visit Israel to pay his respects, Israeli cabinet minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer said: "Yes."
Yitzhak Rabin, who signed the first Oslo peace accord with Arafat in 1993, was slain in November 1995 by a right-wing Jewish militant opposed to the exchange of land to the Palestinians for peace.
Although Arafat did not attend Rabin's funeral in 1995, he later paid a condolence visit to Leah Rabin – (Several Sources)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
