Hundred of Palestinians have graduated from Soviet military academies, according to an official of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
“Scores and hundreds of Palestinian officers eligible to command major sectors such as brigades have graduated from Soviet military academies,” Brigadier Mohammed Ibrahim al-Shaier, head of the PLO’s Moscow office, revealed in a lecture last night in Beirut and published in Beirut newspapers today. He said there are also some 2000 Palestinians studying in Soviet schools and the PLO received 300 scholarships a year, mostly for scientific and technical studies.
During PLO chief Yasir Arafat’s visit to Moscow last year agreement had been reached on Soviet-Palestinian coordination “in all matters of joint interest,” Shaier said. There have been recurring reports that the USSR has been training Palestinians.
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