Overt disputes in Palestinian opposition threaten collapse of follow-up committee
Palestine, Politics, 8/9/1999

An overt dispute erupted on Sunday in a meeting of the follow-up committee of the alliance of the Palestinian opposition forces, which met to discuss a united strategy to deal with final status matters, foremost being the question of Jerusalem, the refugees and the Palestinian state.

The dispute led to the postponement of a meeting until today amid expectations of the collapse of the meeting if disputes over such fundamental issues will continue. The chairman of the follow-up committee, Khaled al-Fahoum, told the Lebanese daily al-Nahar that he "has been exposed to strong criticism and was asked to "resign from Fatah-the uprising," led by Abu Mousa, "as a result of his recent talks in Amman with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and his announcement of readiness to take part in the final status negotiations on the grounds of the unity of the Palestinian forces."

Al-Fahoum added that Fatah - the uprising also made "a strong criticism" of the assistant secretary general of the People's Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Abu All Mustafa, on the grounds of the dialogue initiated between the front and Arafat.

Despite the assertion made by the people's front that it adheres to the follow up committee, sources of the participants in the meeting did not rule out the possibility of dropping the membership of the front from the follow-up committee "if (the front) continues the futile dialogue with Arafat."

Although the Palestinian opposition forces hold a unanimous stand on not to give up matters of the final status, their positions range between supporting the Palestine Liberation Organization and rejection of Arafat in the context of the PLO or attempting a new reference for the Palestinians away from the PLO as in the stand adopted by the Islamic movements.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the political bureau of the Hamas movement, Khaled Mishal, told the Lebanese daily al-Nahar said that Hamas considers the PLO to be "outside the political game for the time being," while the assistant secretary general for the Fatah-the uprising, Abu Khaled al-Omleh ,stressed that his movement "does not accept Yasser Arafat inside the PLO, as he violated the PLO when he had cancelled its national charter."

Meanwhile, the secretary general of the people's front, George Habash, said that "building the PLO is the main" precondition for his dialogue with Arafat.

At a time when rumors say that Syria is behind the dialogue between the people's and democratic fronts with Arafat, the new regional developments, especially the recession of optimism on reviving the Syrian tracks, do not prove such an inclination.

Khaled Mishal, who held a lengthy meeting with Habash on Saturday in Damascus to listen to his views on the issue of maintaining dialogue with Arafat, met on Sunday with high-ranking Syrian officials and reiterated "Hamas' determination to continue struggle until liberating all of Palestine, step by step."

Previous Stories:
  Palestine seeks to convene Arab summit for El-Touk countries   (8/6/1999)
  Continuing mediation among Fatah and Palestinian opposition factions   (8/4/1999)
  Delegation from Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine to meet with Arafat in Cairo in mid-August   (8/3/1999)
  Palestinian opposition fails to make a statement against Oslo   (7/27/1999)
  Palestinian forces refute campaigns against Syria   (7/23/1999)

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