Shultz Accuses W. Europe of Cozying Up to the PLO : Overtures Called ‘Pay in Advance’

Secretary of State George P. Shultz criticized West European allies today for making gestures toward the PLO that he called “payment in advance” for policy changes the guerrilla organization has not been willing to make.

Shultz said at the beginning of a 10-day, six-nation tour of Europe that such gestures hurt chances for peace in the Middle East. The Palestine Liberation Organization is not entitled to recognition or participation in the peace effort until it renounces the use of force, Shultz said.

“We differ with some of our European friends over the role of the PLO,” Shultz said in a speech to the Pilgrims, an Anglo-American friendship society.

Not a ‘Player’

“To us it seems obvious that the PLO excludes itself as a player so long as it rejects United Nations Security Council resolutions,” which renounce the use of force and recognize Israel’s right to exist.

“The PLO is not entitled to any payment in advance so long as it rejects what are, after all, the basic premises of the peace process,” he said.

“If PLO policy changes, that fact will be acknowledged. We have always said this. Unlike some of our European friends, however, we feel that gestures toward the PLO . . . only mislead its leaders into thinking their present inadequate policy is gaining them international acceptance and stature.”

Asked by reporters what specific gestures he found objectionable, the secretary of state mentioned visits by PLO leaders to various Western European countries. Yasser Arafat’s organization also has representatives permanently stationed in several European capitals.

Administration Miffed

The Reagan Administration was angered in October when the Italian government released Abdul Abbas, a PLO faction leader suspected of involvement in the hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship Oct. 7 in which an American passenger was killed.

U.S. Navy jets forced an Egyptian airliner carrying the four Palestinian hijackers and Abbas to land at a NATO base in Sicily. Italian authorities have put the hijackers on trial, but Abbas was freed.

“These extremists must be resisted, not appeased,” Shultz said in his speech. “They must be shown that military options don’t exist, that blackmail and pressures will get nowhere, and that negotiation is the only possible hope for achievement of legitimate Arab objectives.”

Peace Talks Promoted

His remarks come at a time when the United States is promoting peace talks between Jordan and Israel, which have been stalled by failure on both sides to agree on who will represent Palestinians.

Many countries, including Egypt, say no significant agreement is possible without PLO participation. Israel refuses to talk with the PLO, which it considers a terrorist organization.

Asked whether negotiations could begin by the end of this year, as he had hoped, the secretary responded: “I wouldn’t say it’s fizzled out. It’s there. We intend to pursue it.”

Devising the proper formula for including Palestinians “continues to be a problem,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Shultz met for about half an hour with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Britain agreed last week to join “Star Wars,” the U.S. research program for a missile-defense system based in space.