Egypt Closes PLO Offices to Protest Ruling

The government today closed all offices of the PLO to protest a decision by the Palestinian leadership linking relations with Egypt to abrogation of the 1978 Camp David peace treaty with Israel.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had warned the Palestine National Council, the Palestinian parliament-in-exile, that any discussion about Egypt withdrawing from the accords would be regarded as interference in its domestic affairs and would not be tolerated.

Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat attempted to water down resolutions on Palestinian-Egyptian relations at the Palestine council meeting in Algiers that concluded Sunday, but he was forced to bow to PLO hard-liners to maintain Palestinian unity. The Egyptian delegate, Taha El-Farnawani, walked out in protest.

‘Foolish Resolution’

A statement read today by Foreign Minister Esmat Abdel-Meguid described the Algiers resolution as a “foolish resolution issued for no reason at all and in total aggression against the truth.”

“Accordingly, the Arab republic of Egypt has decided to shut all offices of the Palestine Liberation Organization and its affiliated institutions in Egypt,” the statement said. “The decision has been conveyed to the PLO office in Cairo.”

Officials said the decision, made at a morning meeting between Mubarak and his top aides, was enforced at 2 p.m.--three hours before it was announced.

No Change of Position

“Needless to say, this does not mean any change in Egypt’s position of support for the struggle of the Palestinian people because this position is a basic commitment,” the statement said.

The rift between Egypt and the PLO was the most serious since Mubarak came to power after the assassination in 1981 of President Anwar Sadat, who signed the Egyptian-Israeli accords.

It was also certain to complicate Egypt’s efforts to broker a comprehensive peace in the Middle East to include the Palestinians with the PLO as their representative.

The Egyptian statement said “the PNC issued a resolution in which it dealt with PLO-Egyptian relations in a hostile manner that denied the sacrifices made by Egypt for supporting the Palestinian people.”

Victory for Arafat. Page 5.