Arafat was loved by “most beautiful” women

Scores of beautiful women around the world had fallen in love with late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat but he had rebuffed their advances because he was in love with his wife, Arafat’s widow has said.

Suha Arafat said she had fallen in love with the Palestinian guerrilla leader and quickly agreed to marry him despite the large age gap, adding that she was charmed by his powerful and fascinating character.

In an interview with the Egyptian satellite TV Dream channel, Suha indicated she could marry again although she had said she would not love any one else.

“For your information, the most beautiful women in the world had fallen in love with Abu Ammar (Arafat)…many of them were sending him love letters, which he had shown to me…but he was not bothered about such letters and was saying I was his only love and he would not love any one else,” she said.

“Abu Ammar had a very strong character….he possessed a charming and incredible personality…that was why I fell in love with him and immediately accepted him as a husband although he was nearly 34 years older than me.”

Suha, who was born to a Christian Palestinian family before she converted to Islam when she married Arafat, said the late Palestinian leader first met her in Amman in 1985. She said she felt he liked her and her feelings came true after he started to meet her more often and seek her help in French translation.

“Once he told me that he would marry me if he was younger…I then realized he was in love with me and really wanted to marry me…my mother was opposed to such marriage but I accepted when he later said he wanted to marry me…I loved him and was not bothered at all by his age….it was a love from the first sight on his part and it was then a secret marriage in 1989,” she said.

“The marriage remained secret because of some social and political factors until Arafat’s jet crashed in the Libyan desert (in 1994)…I thought he was dead but I received a call from Libyan leaders saying he was alive… I rushed to the hospital and went into his room, where many Palestinian and Libyan leaders had gathered….he then introduced me to them and said ‘let me introduce you to my wife Suha…at that moment it was no longer a secret marriage….after recovering, he took me to Amman to meet King Hussein of Jordan…I met the King and Queen Noor as Abu Ammar’s wife for the first time.”

Suha, who had a daughter from Arafat, admitted that there was another woman in the Palestinian leader’s life. “He had revealed to me that he had loved a woman called Nada…she is Palestinian from Lebanon…he said we were the only two women who had loved but that he decided to choose me as his wife.”

Suha, now around 46, said she could not rule out marrying again although the interviewer reminded her she once said she would not love any one else.

“I know I said that but you never know what happens…you might hear in the future that Suha married again and you might ask why….I would say that if this happens, it will be because I and my daughter need protection…I want to defend my self and my daughter…so I can’t say I will never marry again.”

Arafat, who was born in Jerusalem, had led the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation for nearly 40 years before he died in France in 2004.

Palestinians had considered the turbaned leader as a symbol of their struggle to regain land lost in the 1948 and 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

But the bearded Arafat, who had always been in military fatigues, had also often come under fire by some critics for what they had termed as his lenient policies. Some of them had also accused Arafat of being corrupt.

“I know that some had said Abu Ammar was corrupt but I can assure you that he was not…I know for sure he was not corrupt,” Suha said.

“He was a very good and generous man…he had always helped people in trouble and had always sent money with me to ousted leaders, to officials kicked out of their positions and their country and to patients in hospitals…many people, including high ranking officials, had been treated at Abu Ammar’s expense…Abu Ammar was a sincere man and would never forget a friend even if this friend was in trouble….unfortunately, I saw much insincerity towards him after his death.”

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