(Los Angeles Times)Tyler Marshall and Mary Curtius - In 1974, the UN granted observer status to the PLO, and Arafat became the first representative of a nongovernmental agency to address the General Assembly - wearing a holster on his hip. A retired UN official recalled that Arafat wanted to brandish his pistol, as well as an olive branch, while standing before diplomats. But what was not widely known at the time is that the holster was empty. "We had to work day and night to get him to give up his gun," said Samir Sanbar, then the director of the UN Center in Beirut.
2004-11-12 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive