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| Israel-Palestine |
| Damascus-based group seeks to rejoin Fatah |
| 2004-04-24 |
| A Damascus-based radical Palestinian faction is seeking to rejoin Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement after feuding with it for more than 20 years. Fatah Uprising, which broke with Arafat's Fatah in 1983, said Thursday it has contacted Arafat with a request to reunite. In a statement faxed to The Associated Press, it said Abu Khaled Omla, deputy secretary of the group's central committee, recently telephoned Arafat to discuss the subject. The statement said talks "focused on the importance of the (Fatah) movement's unity on the basis of its principles and goals, stressing the unity of the people, land and cause." Fatah Uprising is led by Col. Saeed Moussa, better known as Abu Moussa. In 1983, his Syrian-backed rebels in the Palestine Liberation Organization fought Arafat loyalists and ended up driving Arafat and his forces from Lebanon in December 1983. In its statement, Fatah Uprising said Abu Khaled urged Arafat to "come out with a stand that responds to our (Palestinian) people's" wishes and the line of resistance. It called on Arafat's Fatah to "come back to the oneness of our word, to restore together respect to the principles and bylaws of the Fatah Movement and its historic vision." The statement also called on all other Palestinian factions to "formulate a national program" with a national leadership under which all would participate in rebuilding the PLO institutions. One of Arafat's political advisers, Mamdouh Nofal, said Wednesday that a number of Palestinian factions, including Fatah Uprising and Ahmed Jibril's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, have sent messages to Arafat expressing a desire to rejoin the PLO. Nofal said he believed these developments came following a phone conversation between Arafat and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa, whose country hosts the militant groups. His comments implied that Syria might be pushing the militant groups to make the move because of US pressure. The United States considers the groups sheltered by Syria to be terrorist organizations, while the PLO is recognized by both Israel and the US. But Talal Naji, the assistant secretary-general of the PFLP-GC, denied any contact between the group's leader, Ahmed Jibril, and Arafat. He also denied that Syria was imposing pressures on his front to join the PLO. "This is not true," Naji said in a telephone interview. A senior Hamas official, meanwhile, called for unity between the various Palestinian factions, saying they should do it out of a "sense of responsibility" to confront the alliance between the United States and Israel. Abu Marzouk, deputy head of the Hamas politburo in Syria, denied there were any talks with Arafat to rejoin the PLO but acknowledged something needed to be done "to face this brutal (Israeli) invasion and great attack." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 Mr. Assad had best be careful about Damascus based organizations attacking Israel. It wasn't a navigation error that caused Israeli fighter bombers to buzz his palace earlier this year. One or two terrorist acts by these guys and the IDF may start blowing away terrorist leaders in Damascus and ask Assad if he cares to do anything about it. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-04-24 11:45:44 AM |
| #1 desperate to appear relevant, they suddenly realize the U.S. has written the Paleos off, and won't rein in Israel from defending itself. Train left the station, boyz, but you were too busy killing three 'Merkins with Fulbright scholarship offers in their pocket to notice |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-04-24 11:14:02 AM |