Abbas Zaki

Sharif Ali Meshaal — better known as Abbas Zaki (عباس زكي) — was born in 1943 near Hebron. He has been a member of Fatah‘s Central Committee (FCC) since 1986, and was once a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) representing Hebron. He is the PLO’s main representative in Lebanon and heads the FCC’s Relations with China and the Arab World Commission.

After joining Fatah in 1962, Zaki became a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council in 1970. He has held several diplomatic roles, including as the PLO’s representative to Yemen (1971-74), the PLO’s general director of national and international affairs (1986), and director of the PLO’s relations with Jordan. Upon returning to the West Bank in 1995, he served as Fatah’s deputy general commissioner for popular organisation.

He was elected to the PLC for Hebron in 1996, and served as a member of its Education and Social Affairs Committee, and its Reform Committee.