LTTE sends condolence message to Palestinian People

[TamilNet, Friday, 12 November 2004, 04:36 GMT]
"The LTTE on behalf of the Tamil people wishes to take this opportunity to send its condolences to the Palestinian people for the untimely loss of their leader Yasser Arafat and also expresses solidarity with them in their liberation struggle," said the Liberation Tigers in the LTTE Peace Secretariat website, following the meeting between the LTTE leaders and Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Peterson Thursday.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died early on Thursday morning at a French military hospital in Paris.

The frail head of the Palestinian Authority arrived in Paris last week after losing consciousness briefly at his West Bank headquarters. Arafat was at first said to have been suffering from a severe case of influenza, but was later diagnosed as having blood abnormalities and trouble with digestion. Arafat's condition worsened three days ago and he slipped into a coma on Wednesday.

Excerpts from DW-world.de website on Arafat's life:

"Born in Cairo in 1929, Yasser Arafat preferred to claim Jerusalem as his birthplace. He became politically active as a 19-year-old engineering student in Egypt in 1948, when the Arab countries that declared war on the fledgling state of Israel were defeated and thousands of Palestinians forced to flee their homes as a result.

Arafat and a small group of supporters founded the Fatah movement in Kuwait in 1959. Five years later, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was established by Arab governments claiming to represent Palestinian interests."

External Links:

DW-World:

Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat Dies Aged 75