Abbas' sons to sue media, individuals for libel

Oct 8, 2009, 15:20 GMT

Ramallah - A team of lawyers representing Yaser and Tareq Abbas, the two sons of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Thursday that they have started legal proceedings against media and individuals who they allege libeled their clients.

Several media reports and individuals, including UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Richard Falk, claimed that the Abbas brothers' ownership in the al-Wataniya cellular phone company was behind their father's decision to agree to defer a UN vote on Judge Richard Goldstone's report on the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. The report implicated both Israel and Hamas of war crimes.

The UN Humans Rights Council, which was reviewing the Goldstone report on Friday, suddenly postponed its discussions at the request of the Palestinian Authority. The decision angered Palestinians who accused Abbas of acting to protect his own interests.

His action triggered speculation that Israel was about to refuse to release badly-needed frequencies to run al-Wataniya Palestine, a mobile company which has invested over 700 million dollars in the Palestinian areas unless discussion was postponed.

Wataniya, a joint venture between the Qatari and Kuwaiti Wataniya telecom company and the Palestinian Authority's Palestine Investment Fund, had received a licence to start operating a second cellular company in the Palestinian areas two years ago.

However, Israel has so far refused to issue the proper frequencies, inflicting serious financial losses on the company.

Ahmad Sayyad, a member of the team of Abbas' lawyers, said at a news conference in Ramallah that allegations against the Abbas brothers that they own stocks in Wataniya Palestine are unfounded. He stressed that they had nothing to do with the cellular company.

He said a similar claim was made by Israel TV Channel One in December 2007 and after the lawyers went to court in Israel, the TV officials apologized for erroneous allegations made in the report.

With the same allegations resurfacing after the Goldstone report, the team found itself obliged once again to go to court in the Palestinian areas, in Israel, the region and internationally against any company or individuals, said Sayyad.

He declined to reveal the names of people or companies to be sued.

'We have reached a conclusion that the news and information was intended to libel and slander our clients and therefore we saw legal ground to pursue this case in the courts,' he said.

The lawyers are charging that the reports have incited the public against their clients in addition to defamation of character. The suits would seek material and moral damages.