Arafat's Call For Plo Unity

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday July 22, 1999

Ross Dunn

Jerusalem: The PLO chief, Mr Yasser Arafat, is planning to hold a summit meeting with the leaders of two key rebel Palestinian movements in a bid to persuade them join him at the negotiating table with Israel.

Mr Arafat is expected to meet Mr George Habash of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Mr Nayef Hawatmeh, who represents the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in Cairo on July 31, hoping that they will agree to end their armed struggle against the Jewish State.

Several Palestinian organisations - which refused to support Mr Arafat when he made his historic move to sign the Oslo accords in 1993 - set up bases in the Syrian capital, Damascus, where they have continued to plot terrorist strikes against Israel.

But the Syrian regime has told the groups to give up their armed struggle as it prepares to resume peace talks with the Jewish state. This could force the PLO's dissident factions to again join forces with Mr Arafat, as he seeks to negotiate an agreement to establish an independent Palestinian state.

Analysts believe Mr Arafat would welcome the return of the rebel groups should they lose their Syrian sponsor. He is understood to want to unify the Palestinian factions in order to strengthen his position for negotiations with Israel on a permanent peace agreement.