PLO Will Reportedly Move Offices From Tunis to Baghdad
The newspaper Al Bayan quoted Palestinian sources Wednesday as saying that the Palestine Liberation Organization has decided to move its headquarters to Baghdad from Tunis. The report came as PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat met in the Iraqi capital with President Saddam Hussein.
Al Bayan quoted the sources in Amman as saying that the decision, made secretly, will be announced by the end of the month. Diplomatic sources in the Persian Gulf region confirmed that a move is expected.
In Amman, however, PLO representative Aladdin Hosni denied the report and said his organization will remain in Tunis, which is also headquarters of the Arab League.
“We have always had offices in Baghdad, and if our presence there is expanded, that does not mean moving the headquarters from Tunisia,” Hosni said.
The PLO relocated in Tunisia after being expelled from Lebanon in the wake of Israel’s 1982 invasion. Early this month, Israeli planes bombed PLO headquarters in Tunis, killing more than 70 people.
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