Word: amman
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Marwan S. Kasim Minister for Foreign Affair. Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Amman...
...thousands of his guerrillas after a ten-week Israeli siege of their West Beirut stronghold. Bitterness and mutual suspicion had often divided the two men since Hussein's violent expulsion of P.L.O. guerrillas from Jordan in 1970. But a dramatic new set of circumstances brought them together in Amman last week for four days of private talks and lavish banquets that Arafat described as a "significant and destiny-shaping" event...
...said an Administration official, "I think there is a realization on Arafat's part that the Reagan initiative is the only practical way to go for the foreseeable future." Describing the P.L.O. leader's apparent shift from military bravado to pragmatic diplomacy, a Middle East expert in Amman remarked, "It is time to fish or cut bait. The hour has arrived when Arafat must become a political leader and not just a guerrilla leader...
Hussein also sought some compromises from the P.L.O. on the question of recognizing Israel's existence, and asked for a clear-cut mandate to speak for the P.L.O. in future negotiations with the U.S. Arafat and a dozen other top P.L.O. leaders assembled in Amman were reluctant to make any firm commitments on the major issues. The P.L.O.'s executive committee must endorse any major changes in policy. Moreover Arafat may seek a mandate from the Palestine National Council, the Palestinian parliament-in-exile. But Arafat authorized Hussein to communicate to Washington the P.L.O.'s interest...
...Amman meeting inevitably raised some fears within the Arab world. The Syrians, hostile to Jordan and fearful of losing their role as a champion of the Palestinians, wasted no time in condemning the talks. The Syrian news agency reported that five of the 15 groups constituting the P.L.O. had blasted the Jordanian federation idea as a product of "American schemes" and "reactionary Arab regimes." Three of those groups disavowed that statement, however, and Arafat's leadership did not appear to be seriously threatened. Arab moderates like Saudi Arabia and Morocco, moreover, were quietly encouraging the Jordanian-Palestinian relationship...