Afif Safieh

Born in Jerusalem in 1950, Afif Safieh is Roving Ambassador for Special Missions for the PLO and the Fatah Deputy Commissioner for International Relations. He served as Head of Mission in London, Washington and Moscow, as well as to the Holy See and the Netherlands. During his service in the Netherlands he was involved in the 1988 Stockholm negotiations that led to the first official and direct American-Palestinian dialogue. He also served as Deputy Director of the PLO Observer Mission to the United Nations Office in Geneva, and was in charge of European Affairs and UN institutions at Yasser Arafat’s office in Beirut.

After twenty-seven years of exile, Afif Safieh was the first PLO official to return to Jerusalem for a visit in December 1993, but was denied family reunification in his home town. He lives in London with his wife and daughters.