Arafat Will Seek Visa for U.N. Speech, PLO Says

Although there is no guarantee that he will be allowed entry into the United States, Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat will apply for a U.S. visa in order to address the U.N. General Assembly next week, a PLO official in New York said Wednesday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a PLO delegation of five or six members plans to arrive in New York by next Tuesday.

The General Assembly will begin its annual debate on the Palestinian issue Dec. 1, and Arafat, if he attends, is expected to ask the world body to recognize the newly declared state of Palestine, which at least 48 countries have recognized.

Granting of visas to foreign officials for U.N. sessions is normally a courtesy, but 51 senators have signed a letter to Secretary of State George P. Shultz calling on him to bar Arafat from entering the United States.

No Decision Yet

In a telephone interview, State Department spokesman Charles Redman said no decision has been made on how to respond to a visa request from Arafat, who, according to PLO sources, will apply for his visa at the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia, where the PLO has its headquarters.

“We can deny a visa on security grounds to U.N. delegates,” Redman said. “And this application is going to get very careful scrutiny.”

The PLO is not a full member of the United Nations but has permanent observer status and maintains an office there. Its delegates can speak in virtually all debates, but they can’t vote.

Handling of a visa request would not be affected by a federal court ruling last year barring the Reagan Administration from shutting down the organization’s mission in New York, Redman said.

Changed Stance

Last week, the PLO, in a major change of position, issued a declaration implicitly recognizing Israel’s right to exist, but the declaration was linked to a demand for acceptance of Palestinian “self-determination,” or statehood. The United States still classifies the PLO as a terrorist organization.

Visas have been denied to lower-ranking diplomats in U.N. delegations in the past, although no chief of a delegation has ever been banned, and Arafat would be applying for entry as head of the PLO delegation. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega refused to attend this year’s session after the United States took no action on visa applications for some members of his delegation.