Nabil Shaath

Nabil Shaath

Nabil Ali Muhammad (Abu Rashid) Shaath (Arabic: نبيل شعث‎, Nabīl Shaʿath, also spelled Sha'ath; born August 1938 in Safad) is a senior Palestinian official.[1] He has held the following titles:

Career overview

Nabil Shaath (R), 2004
Nabil Shaath (L) with Yasser Arafat and Benjamin Netanyahu at the World Economic Forum in Davos, 1997
With the President of Brazil, Lula da Silva.

Shaath served as the Palestinian Authority's first ever foreign minister from April 2003 to February 2005. Shaath made news on 2005-10-07 by commenting for a BBC documentary that in a 2003 meeting with United States President George W. Bush, Bush told him and other Palestinian officials that Bush was "driven with a mission from God."

According to Shaath, the quotation was this:

"God would tell me, George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan. And I did, and then God would tell me, George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq... And I did.

"And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East. And by God I'm gonna do it."

Shaath later qualified his comments, saying that he and other world leaders at a Jordan summit two years ago "understood that he was illustrating [in his comments] his strong faith and his belief that this is what God wanted." Both the White House and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who was also present at the meeting, denies that Bush ever made such a statement.[2][3][4]

On December 15, 2005 Shaath became Acting Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority after Ahmad Qurei resigned. He lost that position nine days later when Qurei returned to office.

Business career

In 1976, Shaath started Team International as one of the first large Multi Arab Consulting Companies. By the early 1980s, Team Int. was already established as a field leader.

Film appearances

Shaath will appear in the 2009 documentary "Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace" which deals with the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.[5] The film is being released by Channel Productions in New York City.[6]

References

  1. ↑ 'Shaʿth, Nabil Ali Muhammad (Abu Rashid; 1938–)', in Claude Faure, Dictionary of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, 2004.  – via HighBeam (subscription required)
  2. ↑ "White House denies Bush claimed divine inspiration". Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  3. ↑ "Press Briefing by Scott McClellan". 2005-10-06. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  4. ↑ "Abbas denies Bush's 'mission from God' remark - World - smh.com.au". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2005-10-08. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
  5. ↑ http://www.tvfestival.net/content/Opening-Film/openUK.php
  6. ↑ http://www.daily-fashion.com/cinema.html

External links

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Political offices
Preceded by
Ahmad Qurei		 Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority - acting
2005 		Succeeded by
Ahmad Qurei