An advisor to Bashir Gemayal, commander of the Christian Phalangist forces in Lebanon, said today that he was sceptical about the PLO’s readiness to leave Lebanon, and sugested that the Israeli siege of Beirut would end with an assault on the western part of the Lebanese capital.
Responding to questions at a meeting of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, Alfred Mady, who is the director of the Lebanese Information and Research Center in Washington, and counsels the Phalangist commander on foreign affairs, said that the PLO “cannot afford a political solution” and that PLO chief Yasir Arafat would be unable to impose one on all the rival factions of his organization.
Mady expressed hope that his assessment would be proven wrong. But the called the current efforts by U.S. envoy Philip Habib to settle the PLO forces in other Arab countries “the last stage of this peaceful process,” and said that the final alternative means of removing the terrorists would be “either for Israel to go and do it or for the Lebanese army to go in after them.”
Mady viewed reports that the Sudan was prepared to absorb some of the Palestinian forces as “the last chance” for a peaceful solution, but said he doubted that the PLO would agree to be transferred there.
BASIS FOR OVERCOMING INTERNAL DIFFERENCES
Once Lebanon is left to its own devices, Mady contended, internal differences could gradually be overcome and a strong central government established, preferably under the presidency of Gemayal, who is a candidate in the elections that were to take place this summer.
“Soon we will have a new president in Lebanon–maybe in two weeks–who may preside over a strong government and help in getting rid of foreign forces,” he said. In response to a question, however, Mady asserted that the Lebanese Christians were “willing to give up the presidency” which they have enjoyed since Lebanon’s independence, but only “under the right formula.”
He said this would mean a decentralization of authority that would provide each religious community with “substantial autonomy, particularly in matters of local status.” But Mady viewed the possibility of achieving such a settlement with scepticism as well, saying: “I don’t think the Moslems want that.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
