Arafat beats terror rap

WASHINGTON — Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat and his supporters have avoided being classified as terrorists in a U.S. report to be released next week.

U.S. officials said the State Department's report on terrorism scheduled for release on Monday will not label as foreign terrorist organizations any of the groups linked to Arafat. This includes the ruling Fatah movement, Middle East Newsline reported.

The United States is not permitted to have any contacts with groups deemed as terrorist.

Most members of Congress have signed a petition that asks President George Bush to consider placing Arafat-aligned groups on the State Department list.

The State Department will cite Arafat's Fatah wing as being a participant in terrorist attacks in a report entitled "Patterns of Global Terrorism Report." But officials said the department will quote Israeli sources rather than make such a determination. They said this does not constitute the classification of a terrorist group.

The State Department decision to designate neither Arafat nor his groups as terrorist elements is in line with its previous report released last month. In a report to Congress on the mini-war between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the department refused to make any determination of whether Arafat or his top aides were involved in attacks on Israeli civilians.

The forthcoming report will cover the period of last year.

The department list of foreign terrorist organizations is expected to be released in October.