President Francois Mitterrand has decided to meet in France with Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasir Arafat, according to an official announcement made Tuesday by the Elysee Palace.
Palace chief spokesman Hubert Vedrine said the president has not yet fixed a date, but that the meeting “will take place in France” and not in Tunisia or Egypt, as previously reported.
Diplomatic sources said the meeting will “most probably” take place in Paris or its immediate vicinity a few days after Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir’s April 6 meeting with President Bush in Washington.
The sources said that before meeting with Arafat, Mitterrand will want to hear from Bush on whether Shamir has made new suggestions to break the stalemate in the Middle East peace process.
The French Embassy in Washington reportedly has been instructed to report all available details of any Shamir peace plan at the earliest possible date.
The announcement comes as a blow to Israeli diplomacy following recent trips to France by Shamir and Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Arens. Both Shamir and Arens pleaded against a meeting with Arafat, saying this would be counterproductive to the peace process.
ATTEMPT TO INFLUENCE U.S.
Mitterrand reportedly decided to make his decision known before Shamir’s visit to America, in order to clearly indicate that, in his eyes, Arafat and the PLO are the most suitable negotiators in any peace process.
That appears to be the growing sentiment in the 12-nation European Community, which Mitterrand will preside over, beginning July 1.
But Jewish organizations in France plan to stage demonstrations against Arafat’s visit and to lobby the government up until the last minute to cancel the meeting.
Arafat already has visited most West European capitals, but both Mitterrand and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher have so far refused to receive the PLO leader or even meet with him abroad.
Arafat visited France last September, when he addressed Socialist delegates to the European Parliament in Strasbourg and met there with French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas. This meeting, which took place inside the European Parliament building, was considered by the French government as extraterritorial.
Arafat’s forthcoming meeting with Mitterrand in France is therefore seen as a major breakthrough by the Palestinians. They hope it will further improve their relations with the European Community and influence America’s own attitude on the eve of Bush’s meetings with Shamir.
Both Spain and Italy welcomed Mitterrand’s decision, according to their national radios. Greece, also a European Community member, has been openly lobbying for a meeting between Arafat and the 12 European heads of state.
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