Palestinians threaten Arafat

RAMALLAH -- President Clinton has pressed him to stay at Camp David, but Yasser Arafat faces even more pressure from his own people and from radical states such as Iran.

Palestinian allies and critics continue to warn Arafat not to concede on final status issues as most Palestinians are said to be ready to reject any peace agreement signed with Israel.

Hundreds of Palestinians rallied in Ramallah and warned the Palestinian Authority chairman that they would not accept any agreement that concedes on their right to return to their homes in what is now Israel.

In Lebanon, Syria and Britain, Palestinian refugees and their representatives said they would not accept any accord that would concede on their rights to return to their homes in what is now Israel according to Middle East Newsline.

Iran is preparing to renew arms shipments to the Hizbullah and the Hamas. While tacitly approving Arafat's participation in the summit, The Khamenei regime in Teheran has warned that the rights of the Palestinians must not be compromised.

Palestinian Legislative Council member Hussam Khader, who represents the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, said that Palestinian refugees would take matters into their own hands if they feel that Arafat has abandoned them.

"We would form a new political and military organization devoted to restoring our rights including the right of return," Khader said.

Khader told a rally in Ramallah on Wednesday that any agreement by Arafat that would concede on refugee rights or Jerusalem would constitute a betrayal of the Palestinian people and would not be honored.

Fatah West Bank leader Marwan Barghouti agreed.

In Amman, Jordan's King Abdullah criticized what he termed the failure by Arab nations to support Arafat during the Camp David summit. Abdullah told the London-based Al Quds Al Arabi daily on Wednesday that the PA chairman should "not be left alone in these negotiations without Arab support. I am not talking about financial support, but rather of the political support needed to serve Arab interests."

The Jerusalem Media and Communication Center released a poll of 1,200 people in which 52.8 percent predicted that the Camp David summit would fail to produce a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Those polled said 55.7 percent were confident in the Palestinian negotiators, but only 28.2 percent said they would support an agreement reached at Camp David. More than 49 percent said they would first want to see the accord.

The survey reported that only 42 percent of those polled believe that a majority of Palestinians would abide by a final status agreement reached at Camp David. The majority of respondents either said the Palestinian majority would not abide or didn't know.

In Gaza, Hamas warned Arafat against a sell-out of the Palestinian people. Hamas leaders cited to negotiations on Jerusalema nd refugees.

"Even if one group of the Palestinian people signed an agreement, the rest of the people as well as Arabs and Muslims won't accept it and would act against it," Hamas spokesman Mahmoud Zahar said. "Jerusalem and Palestine belongs to all Muslims from Indonesia to Morocco and any agreement excluding Muslim rights will be null and void."