Ghassan al-Shakaa, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization and former mayor of the West Bank city of Nablus, has died at age 74.
His son Walid says his father died earlier today of pneumonia. He also suffered from kidney problems and prostate cancer.
Al-Shakaa served as mayor of Nablus, the West Bank’s second-largest city, from 1994-2004 and from 2012-2015. He also served on the PLO Executive Committee.
In 1996, he was elected to the Palestinian parliament as a candidate for Fatah, the movement headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Abbas says al-Shakaa “spent his life in the struggle and the service of his people, and in defense of its rights.”
Al-Shakaa, a lawyer, was arrested by Israel in 1981 and served 15 months in prison for Fatah membership.
— AP
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