Al-Qudwa: Withdrawing my diplomatic passport will not change my positions

Nasser Al-Qudwa, a member of Fatah’s Central Committee and relative of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank City of Ramallah on 18 January 2017 [ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images]

Former member of Fatah’s Central Committee Nasser Al-Qudwa said yesterday that the withdrawal of his diplomatic passport will not change his positions, Quds Press reported.

This came following the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s decision to strip him of his diplomatic passport after he made a number of statements which were critical of the PA, PLO and Fatah Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

“What happened is a clear violation of the basic Palestinian law, which gives me the right to hold a diplomatic passport as a former Foreign Minister and ambassador for 20 years,” he said.

Al-Qudwa, the nephew of the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, accused Abbas of monopolising the PA and all its major institutions, and doing whatever he wants “without being monitored or questioned.”

Meanwhile, he said he would not file a legal complaint against the PA regarding the withdrawal of his diplomatic passport.

“Holding a normal passport like any other Palestinian citizen is not a disaster,” he said, expecting that the PA’s judiciary would not rule in his favour against Abbas.

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