Veteran Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat dies of COVID-19

Dubai: Saeb Erekat, veteran Palestinian negotiator, passed away from coronavirus on Tuesday. He was 65.

He first came into prominence in 1991, when he was appointed deputy head of the Palestinian negotiating delegation at the Madrid Peace Conference.

Born on 1955 in the village of Abu Dis, south of Jerusalem, Erekat later played an active role in the peace talks with Israel in 1992 and 1993, when the Oslo Accords were signed between Israel and the PLO, the Jerusalem Post reported.

After the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, former PLO leader Yasser Arafat appointed Erekat as head of the Palestinian negotiating team with Israel.