Arafat fights petition, fears Iran's, Syria's role

RAMALLAH [MENL] -- Palestinian legislators held a secret session on Wednesday to pressure those who signed a petition protesting Palestinian corruption to recant.

At the same time, the Palestinian Authority has reportedly begun investigating links between those who signed the petition and Syria and Iran.

PA Parliamentary Affairs Minister Nabil Amr and a close adviser to Arafat said at a press conference in Ramallah that the PA suspected that Syria and Iran supported the petition. He said the PA was very concerned by the fact that the Syrian official paper Tishrin had covered the story extensively and published the communique in full.

The Palestinian legislative session began in Gaza and leading legislators immediately demanded that the meeting be closed to reporters and spectators.

After the proposal for a secret session was approved, five legislators walked out in protest.

Legislators said it was not clear whether the nine Palestinian colleagues who signed the petition would be stripped of their immunity and be prosecuted. Several of the legislators suggested that the decision depended on whether they renounced the petition in which they urged Palestinians to revolt against "tyranny and corruption."

"The immunity issue is not clear," Hatam Abdul Khader said. "We will listen for an explanation of this communique."

At least one PLC member, Hussam Khader, has already recanted and Palestinian sources said Wednesday's session would seek to force the rest of those who signed the petition to do the same.

Palestinian Authority sources said Arafat gave the Palestinian Legislative Council members a choice between renouncing the support for the petition or face detention.

Meanwhile, the PA launched a drive on Wednesday to bolster flagging support for chairman Yasser Arafat.

Starting on Wednesday, the PA will begin rallies throughout the West Bank to "renew allegiance to the leader, Yasser Arafat," officials said.

Earlier in Ramallah, the Palestinian capital in the West Bank, hundreds of members of the Fatah ruling party, aligned with Arafat, marched in support of the PA and its leader. The demonstators protested the communique.

The rallies would combine support for Arafat, who has been accused of tolerating corruption in a petition signed by 20 leading Palestinians, as well as attacks on Israel's final status negotiating positions.

Except for the legislators, all of the signatories have been arrested or placed under house arrest. So far, six of the 20 signatories have recanted, saying in a statement that they did not intend to "harm the name of the Palestinian leader or create strife among the Palestinian people.

The other PLC members said they will not recant. "We say to these corrupt people, stop where you are," PLC member and former Agriculture Minister Abdul Jawad Salah. "This is a country that gave martyrs for a homeland, not for a mafia.

"This kind of methods will not pass and the state has to find out whether there is a bigger conspiracy," PA International Cooperation Nabil Shaath said. "Regarding the PLC members, the issue is not the removal of their immunity but dealing with them politically. The PLC has to treat this as a political issue. The security agencies are not responsible. Everybody has the right to raise issues without the right to incite.

"We will guard freedom of opinion and are keen to preserve it," Amr said. "But there is a crucial difference between the freedom to spread accusations that sow doubts and gossip among the people and between expressing reasonable and responsible opinions. From now on things will not be easy for whoever wants to ride this issue and appeal to the street directly. President Arafat is a symbol for the Palestinian people and he was elected as that. Freedom of expression cannot be used to go on at length irresponsibly."

Amr said those arrested would be freed after the investigation was completed. Amr said the communique was meant to incite the Palestinians and called on them to ignore the charges of corruption contained in the petition.