Arafat Fires His Top Official in Lebanon
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SIDON, Lebanon — Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat has dismissed his top representative in Lebanon following the murder of one of his loyalists in factional fighting, Palestinian sources said Saturday.
Zeid Wehbe, the fired official, had been called out of Lebanon for consultations on the death of Rasem Ghoul, 38, a victim of friction between factions loyal to Arafat and pro-Syrian groups.
A PLO spokesman said earlier that Ghoul, abducted two days ago near the big Ein el Hilwa refugee camp east of Sidon, was found shot to death Saturday.
Arafat, at odds with Syria, was driven out of northern Lebanon by a pro-Syrian Palestinian faction in 1984. Ghoul was the local head of Arafat’s elite Force 17 group. He arrived to replace Hassan Haiba, the previous commander, who was killed at the refugee camp in February.
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