President Valery Giscard d’Estaing has called for the Palestine Liberation Organization’s participation in the current peace process as the only way to solve the Middle East problem. The French President launched his appeal in Amman at a state dinner given in his honor by King Hussein of Jordan Saturday night.
Giscard said that the Palestinian problem is not one of refugees but of a people seeking for self-determination. He said that their representative, the PLO, should participate in the search for a lasting solution to the Middle East problem. The French President stressed, however, that any solution should preserve the rights of all countries in the region to safe, recognized and guaranteed borders. Contrary to the PLO, he did not specifically mention Israel by name in this last context.
This is the first time that the leader of a major Western country has publicly called for the PLO’s participation in any Middle East peace process or negotiation. French officials later said that France will continue its action in favor of Palestinian participation and will try to have United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 amended in this sense should the autonomy talks between Israel, Egypt and the United States fail to reach an acceptable solution by May 26, the Camp David deadline.
Last week in Kuwait, at the start of his nine-day trip to six Arab countries, Giscard called for Palestinian self-determination but did not mention the PLO by name nor call for its participation in the peace talks.
EEC MEMBERS SEEN BACKING GISCARD
French political sources say Giscard has in the meantime obtained the backing of practically all of France’s European Economic Community (EEC) allies. These sources say the foreign ministers of the nine-member EEC are due to meet next week in Brussels to study a joint statement recognizing the PLO.
The nine will meet on March. 17 and 18 with six of the EEC member states believed to favor such recognition: France, Britain, Belgium, Ireland, Italy and Luxemburg. According to diplomatic sources in Brussels two more members, West Germany and Holland, favor such a statement but are still undecided as to its utility and only one; Denmark is still relatively uncommitted.
If adopted, such a resolution would open the doors to West European recognition by the various individual EEC member states. It could also influence other, non-committed Western states, in Europe and Latin America, and might even have an impact in the United States.
CRIF PROTESTS GISCARD’S POLICY
Meanwhile, the Representative Council of French Major Jewish Organizations (CRIF) accused Giscard today of “jeopardizing the current Mideast peace process and compromising the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty.” The CRIF, in a communique released here tonight, said that “France’s organized Jewish community is resolutely opposed to the French policy as defined by the President.” The communique stressed that Giscard’s “unilateral declaration and his spectacular initiatives, without demanding that the PLO modifies its charter in which it calls for Israel’s destruction, represent a serious danger for Israel.” Last week, a four-member French Jewish delegation led by Alain de Rothschild, president of CRIF, met with Premier Raymond Barre to protest against the French initiatives and to call on the government to reconsider its Middle East policies.
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