Abbas rejects accusations over his role in Arafat's death

RAMALLAH, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday rejected accusations that he had helped Israel kill his predecessor Yasser Arafat, blaming the allegation as an attempt to spoil a party congress.

The accusations were made on Tuesday by Farouq al-Qadoumi, a senior leader both in Abbas's and Arafat's Fatah movement and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

"The statements al-Qadoumi made were lies and tempest in a teapot," Abbas said in a statement broadcasted by Palestinian satellite channel.

He said al-Qadoumi's remarks were aimed at "blocking Fatah from holding its general congress" which has not been convened for 20 years.

He added that the Fatah conference will take place as scheduled in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on August 4 "in spite of al-Qadoumi's lies."

Al-Qadoumi said in an interview on Tuesday with al-Jazeera TV that Arafat, who died in 2004 at a French hospital from unknown type of poison, was killed in cooperation between Abbas, a Fatah official called Mohammed Dahlan and Israel.

On Thursday, al-Qadoumi affirmed to the Qatari-based satellite channel that the document concerning the involvement of Abbas in the death of Arafat, which he has presented to media a few days ago, is an original one and that all the information included are true.

Al-Qadoumi said the document, which Arafat gave him before he died, included information proving the involvement of Abbas and Mohamed Dahlan, a prominent PLO leader, in the assassination of Arafat and other resistance leaders, including top Hamas leader inGaza Abdel Aziz Rantisi, in an attempt to control all the Palestinian institutions.

Al-Qadoumi said he had intended to unveil the document during Fatah general congress in case it was held outside Palestinian territories, but was prompted to spread it through media after Abbas took a unilateral decision to hold the congress in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Wednesday decided to freeze the work of al-Jazeera operations in the Palestinian territories.

"The al-Jazeera work is suspended since it dedicates a wide space from its coverage for incitement against the PNA and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO)," PNA said in a statement sent to media.

Al-Jazeera said it finds PNA's decision strange, and alleged that it "has maintained strict, professional journalistic standards." It said the decision is unlikely to affect the work ofal-Jazeera offices in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.