What is Saeb Erekat?
[[File:Saeb Erekat December 2014.jpg|right|200px]] '''Saeb Muhammad Salih Erekat''' (also ''Erifat'' or ''Erakat'' or ''Arekat''; {{lang-ar|صائب عريقات}} ''Ṣāʼib ʻUrayqāt'' or ''ʻRēqāt''; 28 April 1955 &ndash; 10 November 2020) was a [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] politician and diplomat. He is the Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the [[PLO]] since 2015. He was chief of the PLO Steering and Monitoring Committee until 12 February 2011. He negotiated the [[Oslo Accords]] with [[Israel]] and remained chief negotiator from 1995 until May 2003, when he resigned in protest from the [[Palestinian Authority|Palestinian government]]. He has been a member of the [[Palestinian Legislative Council]] since 1996. On 9 October 2020, Erekat tested positive for [[COVID-19]]. He was at high risk for the illness, because he had a lung transplant in 2017. <ref>{{cite news |title=Palestinian negotiator Erekat facing 'difficult' coronavirus symptoms|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-palestinians-erekat-i-idUSKBN26U1C5|publisher=[[Reuters]]|date=October 9, 2020|access-date=October 16, 2020}}</ref> On 18 October 2020, he was sent to the [[Israel|Israeli]] [[Hadassah Medical Center|Hadassah Ein Karem]] hospital in [[Jerusalem]] in critical condition.<ref>{{cite news |title=Senior PLO official Saeb Erekat taken to hospital as Covid-19 condition worsens|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/senior-plo-official-saeb-erekat-taken-hospital-covid-19-condition-n1243843|publisher=[[NBC News]]|date=October 18, 2020|access-date=October 18, 2020}}</ref> Erekat died of complications from COVID-19 on 10 November 2020, aged 65.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Saeb Erekat dies at 65 from covid-19|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/saeb-erekat-obituary-covid/2020/11/10/46de1b3e-1241-11eb-ba42-ec6a580836ed_story.html|author=Brian Murphy|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|date=10 November 2020|access-date=10 November 2020}}</ref> ==References== {{reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Erekat, Saeb}} [[Category:1955 births]] [[C