Known as Abu Mazen, was born in Safad in Palestine in 1935. A founder member of Fatah movement, he is a leading Palestinian figure who has devoted more then twenty years in the straggel to find a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict.

He is the main initiator of the dialogue with Jewish and pacifist movements in the 1970s He has headed the PLO's Department for National and International Relations since 1980.

Today, he is Arafat's Deputy, head of the Negotiation team, member of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), and member of the Executive Committee of the PLO,