Arabs Condemn Hijacking and Tunis Raid
The hijacking of an Italian cruise ship and the Israeli raid on Palestine Liberation Organization headquarters in Tunis were condemned Wednesday at a meeting of the Arab League’s Committee of Seven.
The league committee strongly deplored the hijacking by Palestinians of the Italian liner Achille Lauro, which ended with the release of the hostages and the disclosure that an American was murdered and thrown overboard. The panel also strongly condemned last week’s Israeli raid on Tunis, Tunisia in which more than 60 people were killed.
Such acts of violence, however, “should not deflect us from the substantive elements of the issues” in the Mideast, the most important of which was the need for an independent Palestinian state, said Arab League Secretary General Chedli Klibi.
The committee, in Washington for talks with Secretary of State George P. Shultz, is comprised of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Tunisia, Yemen, Jordan and Morocco. All but Morocco were represented by their foreign ministers in Wednesday’s meeting.
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