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Saeb Erekat

saeb erekat

Saeb Erekat

Head of the PLO's Negotiations Affairs Department, member of the PLO Executive Committee and Fatah-Revolutionary Council, and representative for Jericho in the Palestinian Legislative Council

(Born 1955)

Born in Jerusalem in 1955, Saeb Erekat his higher education in the US. He obtained his M.A. in Political Science from the University of San Francisco and his doctorate in Peace Studies from England's Bradford University. He returned to lecture in Political Science at the An-Najah University in the West Bank town of Nablus.

A former journalist, Erekat served for 12 years on the editorial board of Al-Quds newspaper, the Palestinian daily.

Erekat has been a member of the Palestinian negotiating team since the Oslo peace process. In 1996, Yasser Arafat appointed Erekat to head of the Palestinian Negotiation Steering and Monitoring Committee. He has been extensively involved in all negotiations with Israel, including those conducted at Camp David (2000) and in Taba (2001).

Erekat was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council in 1996 on the Fatah slate, representing Jericho. Erekat held the post of Minister of Negotiations in the Palestinian Authority, until the establishment of the Palestinian cabinet in March 2005 excluded him from a ministerial post.

Erekat is the author of eight books and numerous research papers on foreign policy, oil and conflict resolution. He also served as secretary general of the Arab Studies Society.

(Sources: PNA website, Jewish Virtual Library)

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