Al- Qaddoumi in Damascus

The chairman of the PLO political department Farouk al-Qaddoumi arrived yesterday in Damascus in a visit which lasts for three days in order to hold consultations with the Syrian officials.

In an arrival statement, al-Qaddoumi said "this critical phase needs consultations and taking Arab decisions because conditions in the occupied Palestinian territories have started escalation." He said that the American and Israeli plans "against the Arab states are proceeding continuously and play a grave role that would affect the whole fate of the Arab region and also on the Palestinian cause in particular and the Iraqi case also."

He said that the American plans to attack Iraq should have the special concern of the Arab nation and a united Arab position should be taken concerning that issue.

Al-Qaddoumi said that the Palestinian authority had asked for the convening of an Arab summit in the mid of January, 2003 "because conditions require inter- Arab solidarity" and the taking of effective measures to halt deterioration in the Arab region."