Arab Radicals Form Anti-PLO Alliance in Occupied Territories

Arab radicals announced Friday the formation of a new anti-PLO alliance in the occupied territories that includes Muslim fundamentalists and pro-Syrian extremists opposed to Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat’s recent peace overtures.

In a leaflet issued in the occupied territories, the Palestinian radicals accused Arafat of “selling out Palestine to imperialism and Zionism” by announcing recognition of Israel and renunciation of terrorism at a news conference in Geneva last month.

“We demand the establishment of a militant leadership to replace the diminishing leadership of Yasser Arafat,” said the leaflet, which was signed by the United National Front in Occupied Palestine.

The group is an alliance of Islamic extremists and pro-Syrian radicals, including members of Ahmed Jibril’s Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and Abu Moussa’s Fatah Uprising, a breakaway faction of Arafat’s mainstream Fatah.

Pro-Syrian Palestinians said the new alliance is the result of increasing cooperation between the two groups in recent months.

The leaflet said the group “rejected all surrenderist solutions” and advocated “liberating the whole of Palestine through armed struggle.”

“There can be no reconciliation with the Israeli killers and no negotiations with Zionist criminals,” the document said. “We oppose any kind of political settlement, whatever its source, and consider negotiation with the enemy to be a grave treason and unforgivable crime.”

The leaflet also called for the formation of a new Palestine National Council led by Palestinian militants who advocate armed struggle. The present council, the Palestinians’ parliament in exile, adopted a declaration of independence in November that implicitly recognized Israel.

Elsewhere on Friday, Palestinians in Bethlehem and the surrounding Christian villages observed a general strike called by the PLO-backed leaders of the Arab uprising to coincide with the day Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas. Graffiti called for an escalation of the uprising.

Also Friday, Israeli hikers clashed with Arabs as they made their way past the occupied West Bank village of Beitin, Israel Radio said. The hikers opened fire at youths, who hurled large rocks at them, but there were no reports of injuries, the report said.

In other developments, police said they suspect Palestinian nationalists were responsible for the killing of an Israeli in the occupied West Bank. The body of Shmuel Edri, a taxi driver from a Tel Aviv suburb, was found Thursday night near the Jewish settlement of Yakir, north of Jerusalem.