Syria agrees to visit by 13 Arab members of Israeli Knesset

The chairman of the Palestinian National Salvation Front, Khaled al- Fahoum, told the London-based al-Hayat daily that Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa gave him on Wednesday "the initial consent" for the visit of the 13 Arab members of the Israeli Knesset to Damascus, including three members of Israeli parties who are taking part in the governmental coalition chaired by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

This will be the first such visit since the Israeli elections held on May 17 and the third for a large delegation of Israeli Arabs, including members of the Israeli Knesset.

Al-Fahoum told al- Hayat that al-Sharaa gave him "the initial consent" during their meeting on Wednesday as "I informed him (al-Sharaa) on the results of my contacts in Amman and meetings with our Palestinian people who arrived from the occupied territories."

Al-Fahoum, during his stay in the Jordanian capital, Amman, received a telephone call from Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and held talks with officials in the Palestinian National Authority.

The proposed Knesset delegation includes three members of Israeli parties which are taking part in the governmental coalition: Nawaf Masalha and Saleh Tarif from the Israeli Labor Party and Husneyah Jebara from the Meretz party as well as 10 members of the Arab parties.

This will be the first visit for a large delegation of Knesset members and the second for members of Israeli parties.

The chairman of the Arab Democratic Party, Abdul Wahab al-Daraweshah, marked the first visit by Israel's Arabs at the beginning of 1994 when he visited Damascus to offer condolences to President Hafez al-Assad on the death of his elder son, Basset.

Al-Fahoum said al-Daraweshah may be a member of the delegation.

Moreover, President al-Assad met with members of the Palestinian delegation during their visit in August 1997. President al-Assad also met for the first time with a member of the Israeli Kenesset, Azmi Beshara, who is also the chairman of the Democratic Arab Coalition, in December 1998.

Internal disputes among the Arab Israelis resulted in cancelling a visit of a 40-member delegation, including members in the Israeli Knesset, which was to be held at the beginning of this year.