Khatami meets with leaders of Palestinian opposition groups in Damascus
Palestine-Iran, Politics, 5/15/1999

Iranian President Muhammad Khatami, currently visiting Damascus, met on Friday with leaders of the Palestinian groups which oppose the peace agreements with Israel.

Khatami held talks with the former chairman of the Palestinian National Council, Khaled al-Fahoum; the leader of the People's Front for the Liberation of Palestine, General Command, Ahmad Jibril; and the secretary general of the Palestine resistance movement al-Jihad al-Islami, which is close to Iran, Ramadan Abdullah Shalah.

The Palestinian security forces arrested nine members of al-Shalah's group on Wednesday.

The Islamic Jihad did not take part as did the Palestinian Hamas movement in the meeting of the Palestinian leadership which decided to delay the declaration of the Palestinian state in order not to give a pretext for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Israeli elections. No statement was released following Khatami's meeting with leaders of the Palestinian groups.

Meanwhile, the spokesman for the People's Front for the Liberation of Palestine has said that the Iranian President Muhammad Khatami criticized on Friday in Damascus Palestinian President Yasser Arafat but without mentioning him in person.

Khatami stressed that those "who proceeded in the process of negotiating with Israel and giving it concessions have to consider the results."

AFP quoted Maher al-Taher, the spokesman for the people's front, which is led by George Habash, as saying that Khatami made these statements during the talks he held with secretaries of Palestinian organizations stationed in Damascus who oppose the peace process with Israel, with the exception of the secretary general of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Al-Taher added that the Iranian president commended the struggle mounted by the Palestinians to restore their occupied territories from Israel and invited the Palestinian groups to visit Tehran.

The secretary general of the People's Front - General Command, Ahmad Jibril, said following the meeting Khatami held with leaders of the Palestinian opposition that talks centered on damage that has resulted since the Oslo agreement until now to the cause of Palestine and the backing offered by Syria and Iran in being able to be a shelter for any movement opposing bargaining programs.

Meanwhile, the Iranian official news agency, IRNA, quoted President Khatami as saying during his talks with the Palestinian opposition that, "The future will be for the Palestinian people and the Palestinian resistance." But the Iranian news agency gave no other details.

Previous Stories:
  First Palestinian delegation to visit Tehran since Oslo agreements   (4/7/1999)
  Iran denies Palestinian accusations on support to Hamas   (2/6/1999)

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