Palestinians 'will win public opinion battle'

A senior Palestinian politician yesterday predicted that the Intifadah would eventually win over European public opinion, and expressed the hope that the Israelis would find themselves "internationally besieged", just as Palestinians are besieged by Israeli armour.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Farouk Al Kadoumi was in Dubai speaking to journalists, and later visited wounded Palestinians who have been flown in to hospitals in Abu Dhabi.

Al Kadoumi reiterated that the Intifadah, which has resulted in the deaths over 200 people, will continue so long as Palestinian demands are not met. He called for Israel's retreat to pre-1967 lines, the refugees' right of return and the declaration of an independent Palestinian state.

"The Intifadah is the only guarantee for us," said Al Kadoumi. "And it will not stop before we're granted international protection." He said that the primary objective of the Intifadah in consolidating a unified Arab front against Israel had been achieved.

The Arab street has been successfully mobilised with student demonstrations in Cairo and over a million protesters in Rabat. Al Kadoumi predicted that the Intifadah would eventually win over European public opinion and expressed hope that "Israelis would soon find themselves besieged internationally," just as average Palestinians have been besieged by Israeli tanks and missiles in the West Bank.

"War is like trade. We do business so long as there's profit, we stop when we begin to lose," said Al Kadoumi, referring to the Oslo and Madrid agreements, which Palestinians maintain successive Israeli leaders have not honoured.

The summits in Cairo and Doha have shown that "The Palestinian cause has become the cause of all Arabs and Muslims," said Al Kadoumi. "We are not only fighting from the inside, but also from the outside, diplomatically."

President Yasser Arafat's intentions to declare a state on September 13 were shattered when, after a flurry of meetings with world leaders, he was not able to drum up sufficient support. "Israel is not the only country propagating Zionist policies," he claimed, alluding to the United States and "other Western countries," an allegation frequently made by regional officials and papers.

Asked about Syria's move at the Doha conference to omit Arafat's's name from the communique expressing support for the Palestinian leadership, Al Kadoumi did not provide a direct answer. He spoke of opposition groups operating from Syria, namely Al Jabha Shaabia (Popular Front) and Al Jabha Democratia (Democratic Front).

The former has been against all peace negotiations with Israel, and the latter has opposed Oslo, pushing for increased democracy in the Palestinian ruling establishment so as to achieve greater legitimacy and credibility. The foreign minister said all opposition groups, including Hamas, are ultimately fighting for the same cause - to bring the Palestinian question on the international table - and for this, he respects them.

"We are using stones to fight the oppression, and they use different means," he explained. Why, then, did the PLO at one point agree to crack down on Hamas? he was asked. "There is a time for fighting and a time for negotiation," he responded.