Bush attaches new anti-terrorism conditions to allowing PLO to maintain office in Washington
Tuesday, April 16, 2002
©2002 Associated Press
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/04/16/national2040EDT0852.DTL
(04-16) 17:40 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --
President Bush put new anti-terrorism conditions Tuesday on a routine memorandum permitting the Palestine Liberation Organization to maintain an official presence in Washington and allowing U.S. aid to the Palestinian people to continue.
White House spokesman Sean McCormack said the president determined -- as he must do, by law, every six months -- that it is in the United States' "national security interest" to continue relations with the PLO. The routine waiver of a 1987 anti-terrorism law essentially certifies that the PLO is not a terrorist organization.
But this time, the document notifying Congress of the decision includes new language adding a factor to the president's ongoing determinations about relations with Palestinian authorities: compliance with Bush's April 4 demands for an immediate cease-fire, immediate resumption of security cooperation with Israel against terrorism and an immediate order to crack down on terrorist networks.
The waiver is done "always with conditions," McCormack said.
"But what we're saying is that from this point on we will be watching Palestinian compliance very closely and using the standard of the things the president has asked of the Palestinians."
Bush signed the waiver memorandum amid growing questions about whether his administration will continue any kind of relations with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Over the weekend, Rep. Henry Hyde, chairman of the House International Relations Committee, said it would not be helpful for Bush to deny Palestinians the waiver at this time and, in effect, brand them terrorists.
"I think, when we're trying to get people together to negotiate on the terms of a lasting cease-fire, as well as a comprehensive settlement, to be calling each other names, even if they're accurate names, is not psychologically helpful," Hyde, R-Ill., said on CNN on Sunday.
"So I think, if that could be deferred or avoided, it doesn't mean that you're surrendering to terrorists or mollifying them, but it means you understand the realities of how to get from here to there."
©2002 Associated Press