Christopher Meets a Businesslike Arafat : Diplomacy: On heels of rambling meeting, the PLO leader shows economic know-how in a bid to reassure donors.

PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat put on a show of organizational unity and economic acumen for Secretary of State Warren Christopher on Friday in a clear effort to convince the United States and other affluent nations that money given to Palestinian self-government will be well spent.

The meeting, described by a senior U.S. official, was in stark contrast to Christopher-Arafat talks in the Jordanian capital of Amman on Monday when the Palestine Liberation Organization chief complained about the pressures he faced, coming across to the Americans as a whiner.

The official said Arafat and his aides seemed far better prepared to discuss economic plans than they were Monday.

He said the PLO delegation discussed funding of small, economically viable projects and agriculture instead of talking in vague generalities as they did earlier in the week.

Although the meeting was only the third one ever held between a U.S. secretary of state and the PLO chief, Christopher said the contacts have already become routine.

“This is a new day in relations between the United States and the PLO,” Christopher said. “After a long period in which there were many restrictions, I now feel free to come here and meet with the chairman of the PLO and have constructive discussions about very serious problems.”

In a bantering exchange while photographers recorded the start of the meeting, Christopher told Arafat that it was “wonderful to see you at your headquarters in Tunis.”

Arafat replied: “Short period only. Next time in Jericho.” Arafat’s echo of the traditional Jewish toast “Next year in Jerusalem” was intended to underline the PLO’s determination to set up its self-governing authority in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho as soon as possible.

Arafat used his meeting with Christopher largely to try to reshape the PLO’s troubled relationship with Washington.

Based on earlier contacts, U.S. officials had formed an opinion that Arafat was emotional and disorganized, a revolutionary trying not very successfully to become a manager.

At Monday’s meeting, Arafat had bored Christopher with long and repetitious descriptions of the suffering of Palestinians at the hands of Israel. At times, Christopher interrupted to say he was already aware of the point Arafat was making and to urge the chairman to get on with it.

According to the senior official, Friday’s meeting was far more businesslike.

In an apparent demonstration of PLO unity, Arafat was accompanied to the meeting by Hanni Hassan, one of the founding fathers of the PLO who has been estranged from Arafat in recent years and who opposed the peace agreement with Israel. Also at the meeting was the PLO’s information chief, Yasser Abed-Rabbo, reported to be part of a PLO faction that earlier this month criticized Arafat’s leadership style and demanded democratic reforms within the organization.

The primary focus of the Arafat-Christopher discussion of economics was a meeting, scheduled for Paris next Thursday, of representatives of countries that have pledged economic support for Palestinian self-government.

The U.S. official said that he believes the donors will be reassured if the PLO provides a similar presentation next week.

“What we have heard is reassuring,” the official said. “There has been movement. They are clearly working very hard to make it work.”

The Israel-Palestinian declaration of principles calls for the Israeli army to begin pulling out of Gaza and Jericho on Monday. But with disagreements remaining on some key details, it seems increasingly unlikely that the target date will be met.

Arafat is to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on Sunday in Cairo and said he hopes that session will remove the final obstacles from the accord. Israeli negotiators gave 107 pages of proposed regulations to the PLO earlier this week.

The U.S. official said both Israelis and Palestinians are determined to make the self-government agreement work.

“There is a strong recognition on each side that they have crossed the point of no return,” the official said.