Damascus may reopen door to Arafat

Press, 29 June 1983, Page 6

Damascus may reopen door to Arafat

NZPA-Reuter Damascus The Palestine Liberation Organisation chairman, Mr Yasser Arafat, will be allowed to return to Syria in the near future, said Palestinian officials yesterday. President Hafez Assad of Syria had promised this to a veteran Palestinian radical, George Habash, who has apparently been trying to end a clash between Mr Arafat and Mr Assad, said the officials. There was no word from the Syrian Government side. On Friday Mr Assad gave Mr Arafat a few hours to get out of Syria. If confirmed, Mr Assad’s promise would allow the P.L.O. chief to return to his fighters’ main bases in north and east Lebanon which are under Syrian control. The apparent improvement in relations between Mr Arafat and Mr Assad was seen by diplomats in Beirut as a result not only of Mr Habash’s mediation,

but of behind-the-scenes efforts by other Arab nations, particularly Saudi Arabia, and possibly Moscow. Mr Arafat, who was expelled after he accused Syrian forces of helping anti-Arafat rebels in east Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, toned down his anti-Syrian rhetoric in a speech in Prague at the week-end. Diplomats in Beirut saw some significance in the fact that, in the same speech, Mr Arafat called the Soviet Union his good friend. Syria has strongly denied allegations that its troops have assisted anti-Arafat elements. In the statement after meeting the Tunisian President, Mr Habib Bourguiba, in Tunis, the P.L.O. leader went further towards healing his rift with Mr Assad when he said, according to the Tunisian news agency: “Syria and the Palestinians must establish a united front against Israel.”