With Yasser Arafat in Paris being examined by a team of doctors looking to identify his mystery illness, the London Telegraph focuses on his younger wife and her sacrifices for the Palestinian cause. It turns out that Suha Arafat has done her part for the intifada at fashion-show runways and expensive shops:

If anything was guaranteed to annoy the Palestinians, it was a comment made by Yasser Arafat's wife after the birth of their daughter, Zahwa. As Suha Arafat proudly showed off the Palestinian leader's only child at the £1,100-a-night hospital in Paris in July 1995, she declared: "Our child was conceived in Gaza, but sanitary conditions there are terrible. I don't want to be a hero and risk my baby." ...

The spendthrift image of Mrs Arafat was further enhanced when French authorities launched an investigation into claims that $11.4 million (£6.22 million) had been transferred from Switzerland to two of her French bank accounts between July 2002 and 2003.

The sums were on top of an allowance of $100,000 (£54,500) which Mr Arafat, 75, sent his 40-year-old wife each month. Mrs Arafat and Palestinian representatives in Paris described the claims as Israeli propaganda.

Mrs Arafat, however, failed to deny the transactions outright in an interview with the London-based Arabic daily newspaper Al-Hayat. "Prime minister Ariel Sharon is responsible for this vicious leak," she said. "What's strange about the rais [president] sending money to his wife overseas, especially when I handle Palestinian matters and interests?"

Nothing strange at all, I suppose -- after all, why should the Arafats live like paupers while they drive their people deeper into poverty and misery? While the Palestinians live in shacks and worse in Gaza and the West Bank, Mrs. Arafat spends their money on multimillion-dollar condos overlooking the Champs-Elysee and a fancy house in the suburbs.

Suha insists that she's doing work on behalf of her husband's country, and indeed her schedule looks exhausting:

She is often seen in the front rows of Paris fashion shows, or shopping with the wife of the Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi and the sister of the King of Morocco. She favours the haute couture designer Louis Feraud and the upmarket shoe-maker Christian Louboutin. Her hair is expensively highlighted.

"She travels first or business class and is renowned for her business acumen," said a friend in Paris. "She is obsessed by image. Everything about her screams money. She is immaculate, from her Chanel eyeshadow to her manicured fingernails."

Hopefully her husband's recent illness won't impact all her selfless efforts on behalf of the Palestinian people. We'd hate to see her fingernails miss a manicure; after all, getting all the blood out from under her fingernails from grabbing as much of the Palestinian's money as she can is important if she's concerned about looking immaculate.

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Another great topic. We\'ve discussed it too much, but good to see it raised that seven jeans and prada shoes are nice. [Read More]

Tracked on March 4, 2005 11:34 PM