Arafat Wants U.N. to Help With Israel

PLO chief Yasser Arafat said today that he wants U.N. help in getting Israel to join Middle East peace efforts, but he said Palestinians will not stop their uprising in the Israeli-occupied territories.

Arafat made his comments during a visit to Austria, seen as part of his campaign to drum up international backing for a Mideast peace conference under U.N. auspices.

In Syria, meanwhile, dissent surfaced within the Palestine Liberation Organization as a member of the group’s executive committee dismissed recent statements by Arafat recognizing Israel and renouncing terrorism, saying they were “Arafat’s personal opinion.”

Led to Dialogue

Arafat’s statement at a news conference in Geneva last Wednesday led the United States to open a dialogue with the PLO.

Committee member Mustafa Zibri said in a statement that Arafat’s remarks at the news conference were “incompatible with the resolutions of the latest Palestine National Council meeting” in Algiers Nov. 15, when the PLO declared an independent state.

Zibri is the sole committee representative of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Marxist group headed by George Habash, one of Arafat’s main rivals in the PLO.

The remarks could represent serious dissent because of Zibri’s position on the PLO’s 15-member governing body.

No Direct Answer

Arafat, speaking to reporters at Vienna’s Schwechat Airport, sidestepped a question as to whether the PLO would continue armed resistance against Israeli authorities.

“You mean resistance,” he said several times. “Our people will definitely continue their intifada, “ a reference to the Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The Austrian government expressed support for the PLO but did not extend formal recognition to the recently proclaimed Palestinian state.

The PLO serves as an umbrella organization for eight guerrilla factions, which sometimes fight among themselves or launch independent attacks on Israeli targets.

Asked how he wants to bring the Israelis into the peace process, Arafat said, “through the United Nations and through the support of . . . all people who are looking for real just peace in the Middle East.”

He said he had expected Israel to reject his offer for direct talks, made during a speech in Geneva last week.

Israel considers the PLO a terrorist organization and government officials have it made clear that they will not change their stance despite Friday’s first direct contacts between the United States and the PLO in 13 years.