Abd Al-Rahim, Tayyib (Abu Al-Tayyib; 1945–)
ABD AL-RAHIM, TAYYIB (Abu al-Tayyib; 1945–)
Palestinian political figure, born in 1945 in Palestine. Abd al-Rahim is a member of Yasir Arafat's inner circle. A refugee in Egypt, he studied in Cairo, where, in the middle of the 1960s, he was president of the Palestinian Students Union. After earning a degree in economics, in 1969 he became responsible for information at Sawt Filastin (Voice of Palestine), the Palestinian radio station in Cairo, and was its director from 1973 to 1978. He also participated in the editing of the magazine Al-Watan. After having joined the political department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), he was named the organization's ambassador to China. He was assigned to the Palestinian Mission at Cairo in 1985 and to Yugoslavia between 1987 and 1988. A member of the Palestine National Council (PNC) since 1977, he was elected to the Central Committee of al-Fatah and appointed al-Fatah's representative on the Central Council of the PLO in August 1989. Abd al-Rahim was appointed PLO ambassador to Jordan the following November. In May 1994, in the context of the application of the Oslo Agreements, he became general secretary of the presidency of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and in 1996 he was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council.
SEE ALSO Arafat, Yasir, al-Fatah;Oslo Accords;Oslo Accords II;Palestine Liberation Organization;Palestine National Council;Palestinian Authority.