MOROCCO: KING HASSAN ANNOUNCES MEETING AGREEMENT BETWEEN KING HUSSEIN OF JORDAN AND PLO CHIEF.
Record ID:
648480
MOROCCO: KING HASSAN ANNOUNCES MEETING AGREEMENT BETWEEN KING HUSSEIN OF JORDAN AND PLO CHIEF.
- Title: MOROCCO: KING HASSAN ANNOUNCES MEETING AGREEMENT BETWEEN KING HUSSEIN OF JORDAN AND PLO CHIEF.
- Date: 31st October 1974
- Summary: 1. MV ZOOM OUT TO GV Hassan speaking (in Arabic) 0.22 2. GV Hussein and others applaud. 0.26 3. GV Arafat speaking and PAN TO delegates applaud. 0.38 4. GV TILT DOWN EXT Hassan's Place. 1.02 5. SV ZOOM IN TO CU Hassan speaking in French. 2.04 Initials VS 3.48 VS 4.01 This film includes an extract from King Hassan's statement in rench at the news conference. An alternative commentary is provided on Page Two. Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 15th November 1974 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: RABAT, MOROCCO
- Country: Morocco
- Reuters ID: LVAE0Y7490ER9GEMJ236H94H11KW
- Story Text: King Hassan the Second of Morocco told a news conference on Tuesday (29 October) - the day after the Arab Summit Conference ended in the Moroccan capital, Rabat - that King Hussein of Jordan and the head of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, Yasser Arafat, had agreed to meet soon in Amman. They would discuss the reopening of the Middle East peace negotiations in Geneva, and the meeting would take place within ten days.
The decision to hold the meeting, said King Hassan, had been taken on Monday night at the of the Summit Conference.
The King told the newsmen that the talks in Amman, the Jordanian capital, would certainly include the question of the Geneva negotiations, but he could not say whether the PLO would be represented at Geneva.
At another news conference held shortly afterwards, Mr. Arafat confirmed that he would meet King Hussein in Amman. He implicitly denied a report issued in Beirut - almost at the same time - by the Palestinian News Agency, which quoted him as saying that he would not go.
SYNOPSIS: The Seventh Arab Summit Conference ended in Rabat, capital of Morocco on Monday, with the delegates hearing their host, King Hassan the Second of Morocco, summing up the achievements of the past three days. Probably the most outstanding result of the Conference was the unanimous adoption of a resolution recognising the Palestine Liberation Front as the sole representative organisation of the Palestine people.
The leader of the PLO, Mr. Yasser Arafat, said the Conference had been a tremendous success for the Arabs in general, and the Palestinians in particular. This was a reference to the Conference resolution, and to the fact that he had just agreed with King Hussein of Jordan to meet him for talks in the Jordanian capital, Amman, within ten days. King Hussein had accepted that the PLO had the right to establish their own independent authority on Jordan's West Bank.
The next day, the Moroccan King held a news conference at his Palace, at which he announced the proposed meeting between King Hussein and Mr. Arafat in Amman.
The King said that the thorniest problem had been the reconciliation of the Palestinians with the Jordanian Government. In this they had succeeded. But now a solution had been reached, there were still a number of difficulties to resolve. But time was precious. If they tried to make a step forward they might find that the other party would not move on its position.
The King said that the talks in Amman would certainly include the question of the Geneva peace negotiations. But he could not say whether the PLO would be represented when the negotiations reopened. The decision on PLO participation at Geneva was the sole responsibility of the front-line powers - Egypt, Syria, Jordan and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation.
He said the resolution was a major break-through by the Arab states, and it would help all those who were working for peace in the Middle East. He pointed out that the United States was bound to Israel by a treaty. But the Americans could not burden their budget for years with heavy aid commitments. The Unite States did not have same potential as the Arab countries. The American trade balance had a deficit of fifty-million dollars, while the Arab countries had a fifty-million trade balance.
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