Adviser to Rabin Reportedly Meets With PLO Official

An Israeli newspaper reported Friday that an aide to Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin met with a Palestinian leader on how to end the uprising in the occupied lands.

The Hebrew daily Maariv said Rabin adviser Shmuel Goren visited Faisal Husseini, who is imprisoned at the Kfar Yonah prison in central Israel, and that the two held a series of secret meetings on political initiatives for restoring calm to the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Reports on the talks were passed to top PLO officials abroad, the newspaper said.

Defense Ministry spokesman Eitan Haber refused comment on the reported meetings, which would mark a shift in the government’s policy of not talking with the Palestine Liberation Organization. Israel considers the PLO a terrorist organization.

Husseini is scheduled to be released from prison Sunday. He has been held without trial most of the past 21 months, accused of anti-government activity.

Fuad Aref, an associate of Husseini, said that he visited Husseini on Monday and that Husseini denied rumors of exploratory talks with Israeli leaders.

Meanwhile, Ezer Weizman, the science minister in Israel’s Cabinet, told the Jerusalem Post that it is time for Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir to “remove the taboo” on speaking with the PLO.