2 PLO Radicals Return to Jordan
The leaders of two radical PLO factions returned to Jordan for the first time in 20 years Friday in a display of united hostility to Western pressure on Iraq in the Persian Gulf crisis.
Nayef Hawatmeh, leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, crossed from Syria a few hours after George Habash, head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, entered Jordan at the same spot.
Both men were banished from Jordan after a 1970 civil war between the Jordanian army and Palestine Liberation Organization guerrillas in which their factions were prominent.
“I feel very happy to come back to my country,” Hawatmeh, who was born in Jordan, said as he arrived to an emotional welcome from 150 supporters.
The leaders of the two Damascus-based PLO groups could be joined by PLO leader Yasser Arafat for a three-day Arab conference on the Western intervention in the gulf. An Iraqi delegation to the meeting also arrived here Friday.
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