Know More About Palestine



Tuesday May 24, 2011 9:16 AM (EST+7)
Palestinians' Fayyad had heart attack in US


Read more: Salam Fayyad, governance, Palestinian politics, Third Way, prime minister

HOUSTON, May 23 (Reuters) - Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad suffered a heart attack while visiting the United States, and a hospital spokeswoman said he was in good condition on Monday.

Mr. Fayyad's condition is good, said Adrienne Lallo, a spokeswoman for Seton Medical Center in Austin, Texas.

Fayyad, an internationally respected former World Bank economist born in 1952, suffered a heart attack on Sunday in Austin where he was attending his son's university graduation, Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib told Reuters from Ramallah in the West Bank.

Fayyad underwent a catheterization at the hospital on Monday, Khatib said.

Fayyad's future as prime minister has been up in the air following a reconciliation deal struck this month between the Fatah Palestinian faction that governs the West Bank and the Hamas Islamist faction that holds sway in the Gaza Strip.

The Islamist group Hamas has expressed opposition to his leadership, but Izaat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official, has been quoted as saying the idea of him remaining prime minister in the new government would be studied.

Fayyad's supporters say his standing abroad is a major asset to the Palestinians as they aim to seek recognition of their statehood from the U.N. General Assembly in September.

In Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent Fayyad a note wishing him a speedy recovery, said a statement issued by Netanyahu's spokesman.

Netanyahu, who along with the United States opposes the unilateral Palestinian statehood bid, wraps up a five-day visit to the U.S. capital on Tuesday with an address on Middle East peace to a joint meeting of Congress.

(Reporting by Ali Sawafta, Anna Driver, Kristen Hays, Arshad Mohammed and Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Eric Beech)
WHAT'S NEW


BACKGROUND


POLLS


WAYS TO GET JMCC


CONTACT US


Subscribe

Al-Madaris St. (same building as
MBC and al-Arabiya studios)
First Floor, Al-Bireh
PO Box 4045, Ramallah
PO Box 25047, Jerusalem 97300
Phone: ++972-2-297-6555
Fax: ++972-2-297-6555
Log in to My JMCC
Email
Password
 or Sign Up
Forgot your password?Close
 My JMCC
Front Page
My Comments Photo of the Day
Calendar Hot Spot(for journalists)
Audio of the Day Video of the Day
Most Popular Historical Timeline
Noticeboard Blogs
My Tags Help Desk
  
User Info
First Name
Last Name
Email
My Tags 
I am a
After signing up,you will receive
an automatically
generated password in your
email.
Close
Recover Password
Submit Your Email
 or Sign Up
Close