The interview with Shaath is typical of any politician's PR-person worldwide (and I may add that we can see this tactic in this thread as well): No concrete information disguised with hardly relevant attacks.

Arafat in crisis over Fatah exodus (Guardian):

...growing lawlessness in several West Bank cities, notably Nablus and Jenin, since the Israeli army drove Palestinian police from the streets. Palestinians are killing each other in criminal violence and fights for political turf. ...
More than 350 activists signed the resignation letter delivered to Mr Arafat and Fatah's central committee. "Fatah is beginning to disintegrate as a result of internal contradictions, Fatah is not united," it said. "Fatah, as it stands today, is leading us toward tribalism, internal conflict and a bottomless pit." ...
Fatah's constitution requires leadership elections every five years, but none has been held for 15 years. Many members are frustrated at what they see as an aging leadership ... unwilling to surrender power.

Now compare that with what Carol has cited, Arafat today is the most powerful leader in the whole Arab world. His constituency now is not just the Palestinians, but every one of the 300 million Arabs, and you'll see that Shaath uses just a tiny bit of exaggeration in his defense of Arafat. Without the external threat by Israel's (since the last change of government) often very stupid politics the superficial unity of the Palestinians would break down quickly.

Wolfgang