Word: fatah
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Meanwhile, Palestine Liberation Organization Leader Yasser Arafat is still trying desperately to contain the revolt that broke out two months ago within Fatah, the P.L.O.'s dominant group. His charge that Syrian President Hafez Assad fanned the rebellion prompted Syria to expel Arafat last month. Although thousands of his fighters remain in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, Arafat has had to move his base of operations to Tunisia while trying to win support from Arab leaders and the Soviet Union. The P.L.O. leader could take little comfort in the news from Moscow last week. According to a TASS report...
...rift within Fatah. It is very, very serious. As I told my fighters today, it is a case of Arab interference. Our bases in the Bekaa Valley are surrounded. The Libyan role is clear. [Libyan Leader] Muammar [Gaddafi] and his mass media are declaring that they are taking part in the attacks against our forces. The Syrians are saying they are not involved, but their moves make their role clear also. Their tanks and troops are blockading our bases...
...split within Fatah, the P.L.O. mainstream group that has always been Arafat's power base, is largely a reaction to last year's forced evacuation from Beirut. It is also the result of a wide range of complaints by some of the rank and file that the P.L.O.'s leadership has been corrupt and ineffective. But these grievances would probably not have sparked an active rebellion without the interference of Libya and, more important, Syria. The P.L.O. has always relied heavily on Syria for military and political support, although relations between Arafat and Assad have been cool...
...promptly dismissed Arafat's charges as "lies" and instead blamed the P.L.O.'s troubles on "those who have failed to resolve their internal problems because of their big mistakes and shortsightedness." According to Arafat's chief military deputy, Abu Jihad, an emergency meeting in Damascus of Fatah's 73-member Revolutionary Council failed to resolve the crisis. Though the rebel leaders insisted that they were not trying to topple Arafat, they demanded several reforms, including an end to Arafat's "singular rule." They also proposed that an emergency committee be formed to take over Fatah...
...point, Arafat seemed ready to offer an amnesty to the leaders of the revolt. There was no such talk as the chairman led a two-day meeting of the Fatah central committee in the Bekaa Valley. Arafat is now paying the price of the P.L.O.'s defeat last year in Lebanon and of his subsequent efforts toward compromise. If he should lose the present power struggle, the P.L.O. could easily split into two or more groups, with Arafat leading the more moderate elements and the Syrians dominating the more radical wing...