From Tunisia to Malta

The widow of the late Yasser Arafat has lost her Tunisian citizenship and, according to international press reports, she is currently residing in Malta. From the International Herald Tribune:

Tunisia has stripped the widow of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat of Tunisian citizenship, officials said Tuesday. A formal decree published Aug. 2 in Tunisia's official register indicated that 44-year-old Suha Arafat, who was born in Jerusalem and became a naturalized Tunisian last year, had lost her citizenship. No explanation was provided, nor was any reference made to the Arafats' 12-year-old daughter, Zahwa, who became a Tunisian citizen the same day as her mother.

Suha Arafat was believed to have left Tunisia, and news reports suggested she was in Malta. She had lived in Tunisia since Yasser Arafat died at a suburban Paris hospital in November 2004. In an interview published Tuesday in the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper, Suha Arafat refused to comment. The daily said she was reached from Valletta, where her brother Ghabi al-Taweel is serving as Palestinian ambassador...