The US State Department will include criticism of two key groups in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) mainstream movement, Fateh, in its annual terrorism report due out next week, US officials were quoted as saying Wednesday by USA Today.
The report will mark the first time that mainstream elements of the PLO are cited in the influential document.
The report will include Israeli accusations that the largest faction in the organization, Fateh, and its Tanzim youth militia took part in “terrorist activities” against Israel during the Palestinian uprising that broke out in September.
Officials told the paper that the report won't address the question of whether President Yasser Arafat or other top Palestinians ordered attacks against Israeli targets. However, by merely mentioning the groups, the Bush administration will be taking into account congressional criticism of the PLO and warning Arafat to rein in his followers.
"This lays the intellectual groundwork for declaring these groups foreign terrorist organizations," said Kenneth Katzman, a Middle East expert at the Congressional Research Service. "It puts Arafat on notice.”
The PLO has had an office in Washington since its peace treaty with Israel in 1993.
A letter to President Bush earlier this month, signed by 296 members of Congress, called for a reassessment of the US-PLO relationship including an examination of whether PLO-affiliated groups should be designated as foreign terrorist organizations, according to USA Today.
The officials said the report next week will not say the groups are "foreign terrorist organizations," a classification created by Congress in 1996 that could oblige the United States to sever ties with the PLO and could complicate efforts to restart peace negotiations.
The Bush administration also has criticized Israel for "excessive" retaliation against the Palestinians, but Israel has not been singled out for terrorism.
In a statement to the paper, PLO envoy to Washington, Hassan Abdel Rahman, called the criticism "unfair, unbalanced and counterproductive.”
Paul Pillar, former deputy counterterrorism chief at the CIA, says "a mention of concern is probably the right thing to do. It gets away from the legal requirements, but calls a spade a spade.”
President Arafat has been demanded by Israel to publicly ask his people to stop the Intifada, while Arafat called for a parallel announcement in which he and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that condemn violence. The two sides have failed to agree on either – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
