Arafat Rejects Israeli Veto of Delegation : Peace talks: Palestinians, as a “matter of principle,” must choose their own representatives, he declares.

Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat voiced support Friday for U.S. proposals for Middle East peace talks but insisted that as a “matter of principle” Palestinians must choose their own representatives and cannot accept an Israeli veto over their delegation.

“We had appreciated President Bush’s initiative from the beginning, and I’m repeating my appreciation again for the same initiative and for the new initiative declared by President Bush and (Soviet President Mikhail S.) Gorbachev to hold very soon the peace conference,” Arafat said.

“But I have the right to ask the whole international public opinion: With whom are you going to make peace if there is no place for Palestinians at the table of negotiations?”

Arafat’s insistence on PLO approval of the Palestinian negotiating team--and his reiteration that it should not exclude a representative from Arab East Jerusalem--marks another obstacle in Secretary of State James A. Baker III’s effort to convene the peace conference in October.

Palestinian leaders from the occupied territories who met with Baker Thursday in Jerusalem said they had a “positive inclination” toward the proposed peace conference, but one representative stated: “The Palestinian delegation will be decided by our leadership, the PLO.”

Baker, who held a four-hour meeting with three Palestinian representatives, did not persuade them to come to the conference but made clear that negotiations would continue through the summer.

Although Arafat’s influence in the Arab world has declined in recent months, in part because of his support for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein during the Persian Gulf War, his views still carry weight with West Bank leaders in determining which Palestinians attend the conference.

The United States has proposed that Palestinians be represented at the talks as part of a joint delegation with Jordan. PLO leaders previously have said this formula would be acceptable, although Arafat and others have insisted on PLO approval of Palestinians selected for the delegation.

Israel has rejected any PLO representation on the delegation and has said it would not accept Palestinians from predominantly East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in 1967.

In an early morning interview here, Arafat said, “How the American public can accept for the occupiers (Israelis) to appoint the delegation for the Palestinians? This precedent never happened before.” The PLO leader added: “I would like Bush to remember . . . that no one has the right to deal with the Palestinians as if we are the red Indians.”

Arafat suggested facetiously that the PLO be given the same veto power over Israel’s delegation that the government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir is seeking regarding Palestinian representation at the conference.

“I can say, I don’t want Shamir. I want from the Peace Now movement, as all of them are Israelis, instead of that delegation from Likud,” Arafat said, referring to Shamir’s conservative Likud Party and the liberal Peace Now movement, which has advocated Israeli concessions to the Palestinians in return for peace.