France and the Palestine Liberation Organization last year concluded an agreement providing for their cooperation in preventing terrorist attacks on French territory, according to the usually well informed French weekly. Le Canard Enchaine. The agreement was concluded last October by PLO chief Yasir Arafat and French intelligence chief Pierre Marion during a meeting in Arafat’s headquarters near Tunis, the weekly reported.
According to the paper, the agreement was approved by President Francois Mitterrand but most French Cabinet ministers were not informed of its existence.
The accord was concluded at a time when the PLO was in deep trouble and had already evacuated Beirut. The Palestinians promised to help the French prevent attacks on their territory by terrorist gangs lead by Abu, Nidal, the Armenian Secret Army and other extremist groups.
Le Canard Enchaine implied that the PLO was grateful for France’s help during Israel’s siege of Beirut. France helped at the time to obtain an evacuation agreement for Palestinian fighters and French warships even escorted the Greek vessel on which Arafat left Beirut for Athens.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
