Secretary of State George Shultz indicated yesterday that he would like to see the Arab League revoke the 1974 Rabat conference mandate in which it gave the Palestine Liberation Organization the sole power to represent the Palestinian people.
“I wonder if it is not going to become apparent to people that when you seem to give such power to a radical group you have made a mistake,” Shultz said at a press conference. The Secretary did not explicitly call for the Arab League to revoke its mandate, but noted that such power when given should be “exercised con- structively.” He said that there is a saying in the U.S. that applied to this: “Use it or lose it.”
Shultz stressed that the U.S. is “determined to stick with” President Reagan’s September I peace initiative. He said it offers “a historic opportunity for peace.’ He added that the U.S. was “disappointed” when King Hussein of Jordan announced he would not join negotiation especially since it appeared he was ready to announce his decision to join the talks. But he stressed that the U.S. agrees with Hussein that he had to reject the new proposal which was made by the PLO.
However, Shultz, said that for Hussein to join, he needs the support of his “brothers in the Arab world” in order to make any agreement reached “meaningful.” He said that Hussein would need Palestinian representatives on any negotiating team.
But Shultz made it clear that these Palestinians would not be members of the PLO. He noted that the Palestinians on the West Bank have “not had a happy life.” But he said the way to improve their lot is not through violence but through negotiations for peace. Shultz stressed that there is no “alternative” to negotiations.
He said “almost by punctuation” a PLO moderate was murdered in Portugal. He was referring to the assassination of Dr. Issam Sartawi who was gunned down last Sunday in the lobby of the hotel where the Socialist International was holding its congress, to which he was a delegate. The Secretary of State said that “the message” from this is that the end result of a Palestinian murdered by another Palestinian “does nothing for the Palestinians.”
On other matters, Shultz said he had no plans to go to the Middle East himself. When asked whether increased pressure was needed on Israel the Secretary replied with a terse “No. ” He said that the “key to peace is that itself; that is the incentive that has to drive people.”
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