Report Guerrilla Central Command Favors Political Settlement of Mideast Conflict

The central committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the umbrella group of the 10 major guerrilla organizations, announced today support of a political settlement of the Middle East conflict, according to reports reaching here from Cairo. The semi-official newspaper Al Ahram reported that the committee, meeting in Amman, adopted a resolution expressing “unanimous support for any political moves by Arab states to liquidate the consequences of the June 1967 aggression”. According to Al Ahram the resolution, which was endorsed by both El Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was introduced during the meeting considering the overall circumstances of the guerrilla movement. Observers here noted that the key to the apparent reversal of the guerrilla organizations’ approach to a Mideast settlement was the call for “political moves” rather than military moves. According to Western news sources, Ibrahim Bakr, a top official of the PLO central committee, reportedly said that “Past experience has shown that the intransigent position which the guerrilla movement adopted toward Cairo’s acceptance of the Rogers plan was wrong.” The commandos, he reportedly added, “now see that Cairo’s acceptance of the Rogers plan is not contradictory to the guerrilla movement.” Dr. George Habash, leader of the Marxist-oriented Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, considered one of the most extreme of the Palestinian organizations, reportedly conceded that “Cairo has proved to be a friend of the Palestinian cause and the guerrillas should not oppose Egypt’s acceptance of UN peace moves.”

But a leader of the PLO in Amman, Zundi Terazi, reportedly asserted that “We will not accept peaceful settlement unless all of Palestine is liberated,” a development flatly opposed by Israel. And an El Fatah spokesman in Beirut, Lebanon, said of the reported resolution: “This is all quite new to us.” Previously, the guerrilla organizations rejected a political solution based on Security Council Resolution 242, called for the establishment of a “secular democratic state” to replace Israel, and denounced all Arab participation in peace efforts as treason to the cause of the Palestinians. According to Al Ahram, Yasir Arafat, head of El Fatah, stated that Egypt’s stand on the implementation of Resolution 242 “leaves no room for doubt about its sincerity and determination on the path of struggle.” Dr. Habash was also quoted by the Cairo newspaper as endorsing Egypt’s position and saying that “Egypt is our greatest friend and bulwark” as it has “shown in the latest events in Jordan.” This reference was an allusion to the criticism expressed by Egyptian leaders, including President Anwar Sadat, over efforts by Jordan’s army to crush the guerrillas earlier this month. Today’s resolution followed El Fatah’s warning Monday that it would join forces with the Jordanian army against the PFLP unless it abandoned its attempt to overthrow King Hussein’s regime by force of arms.