LONDON Ñ U.S. diplomats are said to have toured a facility of a
Syrian-based organization listed by the State Department as a terrorist
group.
The London-based Al Hayat reported on Monday that staffers from the U.S.
embassy in Damascus visited the radio station operated by the Popular Front
for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command. The group is led by Ahmed
Jibril, a Syrian intelligence officer, and obtains funding from Iran.
The newspaper said the U.S. diplomats from the American Cultural Center
arrived at Al Quds radio in southern Syria in early March in what was termed
as the first official U.S. contact with the Palestinian group. A U.S.
embassy spokesman confirmed the visit and said it took place as part of the
embassy's program to cooperate with the Syrian media.
A Western diplomatic source said the U.S. visit to Al Quds followed a
meeting in Damascus between a U.S. diplomat and a representative of Hamas,
another group on the State Department list of terrorist organizations. The
source said U.S. staffers were at Al Quds to prepare for a visit by Duke
University professor Miriam Cooke, who lectured in Damascus last week under
State Department auspices.
Al Quds radio reflects the line of Iran and its broadcasts urge
Palestinians and other Arabs to attack Israel. The United States has urged
Syria to close Al Quds radio, a demand that was echoed by the Palestinian
Authority. During the 1990s, Al Quds constantly criticized PA Chairman
Yasser Arafat for his agreement to negotiate with Israel.
The U.S. embassy staffers were also said to have met the director of Al
Quds as well as officials from the PFLP-GC. The two men were said to have
discussed cooperation in media activities. The Palestinian organization's de
puty secretary-general Talal Naji said the U.S. visit was meant to improve
Washington's image in the Arab world.
