Monday, May 19, 2003
Militant groups giving up Syrian bases: PLO
Agence France-Presse Damascus, May 18
Radical Palestinian organisations are voluntarily giving up Damascus as a base in the wake of heavy US pressure on Syria to close their offices, a Palestinian leader said.
"The Palestinian groups have voluntarily frozen operations because of the situation," said Khaled al-Fahum, former president of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's parliament-in-exile.
"They don't release any statements and no longer organise rallies or receptions," he added, although he did not specify if the groups had actually shut down their Damascus bureaus.
Another Palestinian leader, who asked to remain anonymous, said that by opting for silence, the groups "want to withdraw any pretext for the Americans" to press Syria further on the issue of anti-Israeli activities in the capital.
On May 3, US Secretary of State Colin Powell urged Syria to acknowledge new Middle East realities following the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq by silencing groups that sought to impede fresh talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Powell said the United States wanted to see Syria act by closing the offices of groups considered as terrorist by Israeli and US authorities.
High on the US and Israeli blacklist are Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command of Ahmad Jibril and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
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