Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 6, 1993 TAG: 9309060074
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: From The Washington Post and The Associated Press
DATELINE: JERUSALEM LENGTH: Medium
The officials said that Israel is pressing Arafat to go well beyond his 1988 statement renouncing terrorism and acknowledging Israel's right to exist. Now, Israel is also pushing the PLO to forswear armed resistance and halt the intifada, or uprising, violence against Israeli civilian and military targets, which Arafat has refused to do in the past, the officials said.
The demands are at the heart of secret negotiations still under way over an exchange of documents in which Israel and the PLO will mutually recognize each other after three decades of hostility. The negotiations are parallel to the Aug. 20 declaration of principles initialed by the two sides in Oslo that provides for Israel to transfer authority over the Gaza Strip and Jericho to a Palestinian self-governing body.
Seeking to enlist support for the PLO's peace package with Israel from Syrian President Hafez Assad, Arafat flew to Damascus, Syria, Sunday. After 6 1/2 hours of talks, Assad said he supports the Palestinian people's right to make their own decisions and he will not oppose the plan provided Arafat can gain the Palestinians' backing, according to spokesman Jibran Kourieh.
One or both of the agreements may be signed in Washington as early as this week. It is not known whether Arafat will agree with Israel's demands on mutual recognition, but Israeli officials said they were optimistic that at least the declaration of principles can be signed in the days ahead.
"We are not too far away in terms of words, but there has to be a basic decision by the PLO that they are ready for this historic step," said Uri Savir, director general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and a participant in the months of secret diplomacy that led to the direct talks with the PLO and the subsequent understandings.
Savir said Israel is demanding that the PLO abandon its past positions and express a "full-fledged attitude" in favor of peaceful coexistence with Israel, cessation of the violence and terrorism and permanent changes in the PLO covenant. "The PLO knows what is necessary, knows what the time schedule is, and we are awaiting an answer," said Savir.
"We have found a partner that is still hesitating, still looking in new directions, and sometimes looking back," he told a foreign policy group here.
Other officials said Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has explicitly asked Arafat for a promise to halt the violence of the 5-year-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation. "It must be very precise, without any loopholes, without any chances for misinterpretation," said a senior official familiar with Rabin's views. "It's not enough just to renounce terrorism."
In 1988, Arafat renounced terrorism and acknowledged Israel's right to exist, and a formal dialogue between the PLO and the United States followed.
by CNB