Two left wing factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization on Saturday denounced US pressure on the Palestinians and called on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat not to give any more concessions to Israel.
"US threats to transfer its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and to cut off its aid in the case of the declaration of a Palestinian state are pressures on Palestinian negotiators to get them to make new concessions to Israel," said Maher Taher, a spokesman for the Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
"The United States is thus supporting Israeli aggression," Taher added, calling on the Palestinian Authority "to proclaim a Palestinian state September 13 without making any compromise."
Separately, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) denounced "the pressure and biased position of the United States, which wants to impose biased solutions to the Israeli-Arab conflict."
"The proclamation of a Palestinian state in the territories occupied in 1967 with Jerusalem as its capital is in accordance with international resolutions, while the American attitude is in complete contradiction to the desires of the international community," the DFLP, also based in Damascus, said in a statement.
In an interview broadcast Friday with Israeli television, US President Bill Clinton praised Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's courageous efforts during the failed Israeli-Palestinian summit at Camp David and said in a response to a question that he would consider moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move staunchly opposed in the Arab world.
Clinton also warned Arafat against declaring a Palestinian state without an agreement with Israel, saying Washington would reconsider its economic aid to the Palestinians – DAMASCUS (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
