Habash won't meet Arafat unless he remains committed to Israel's destruction

GAZA [MENL] -- A Palestinian opposition leader said on Tuesday he will refuse to meet Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat unless he pledges to maintain the Palestinian covenant that calls for a Palestinian state to replace Israel.

George Habash, head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said he will not attend a meeting of organization members with Arafat in Cairo next week. The delegation will be led by deputy Popular Front chief Abu Ali Mustapha and will explore the prospects of reconciliation.

"For me, I will not attend the meeting until it is absolutely clear that there is a change in policy by Abu Amar," Habash, referring to Arafat by his nomme de guerre, told the British Broadcasting Corporation in an interview from Damascus.

PA officials said the Popular Front delegation responded to a call by Arafat to help prepare positions in advance of final status negotiations with Israel. The officials said the delegation will meet Arafat during a meeting of the PLO Central Committee in Cairo, held to discuss Palestinian statehood.

On Aug. 7, a delegation led by Democratic Front leader Nayef Hawatmeh is scheduled to meet Arafat, PLO officials said.

Habash said the Popular Front has not agreed to cooperate with Arafat's Fatah faction. "If there is a possibility that Arafat changes his policy, then we will help him," Habash said. "But this has to be 100 percent clear. Then the political bureau [of the Popular Front] will return and see whether to continue the dialogue."

The Popular Front chief said he will not meet Arafat until he agrees to keep the Palestinian covenant intact. In 1996, the Palestinian National Council voted to amend the covenant to ensure that it does not violate the 1993 Israel-PLO interim accords.

But a committee called for in the PNC resolution did not formally amend the covenant or draft a new document. The covenant has more than a dozen clauses that call for Israel's destruction and its replacement by a Palestinian state.

"I want that the Palestinian covenant continue to unite us," Habash said.

On another issue, Habash denied an assertion by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Martin Indyk that Syria is pressing Palestinian opposition groups based in Damascus to end attacks on Israel. Habash said he attended the session held by Syrian Vice President Abdel Khalim Khaddam with Palestinian opposition leaders.

"We spoke in general times on the political situation," he said. "There was no problem. There was no sort of suggestion that we stop any military or non-military activities."