United Nations Plo

The United Nations, the 159-member body that has provided the Palestine Liberation Organization with one of its most effective international platforms, this week grappled with recent changes in the PLO's status and took a procedural step Wednesday that could have potentially far-reaching effects. The 15-member U.N. Security Council, in an unprecedented move, accepted a request made directly by the PLO to address the chamber.

Israeli and U.S. officials Monday rejected a reported offer by Yasser Arafat to participate in direct talks with the Jewish state, a proposal that appeared to mark a tactical retreat on the part of the PLO leader. "I accept talks with the Israelis in the presence of the five permanent members of the (U.N.) Security Council at the negotiating table because I want a guarantee, and I need the pressure of the five on Israel," Arafat was quoted in the Paris newspaper Le Figaro.

The Reagan Administration, citing national security concerns, announced Saturday that it has denied Yasser Arafat a visa to enter the United States to address the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Thursday when it opens debate on Palestinian issues. In a statement explaining the decision by Secretary of State George P.

Responding with anger to a U.N. condemnation of Israel for the deaths of Palestinian rioters in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir rejected any outside intervention as an attempt to punish his nation, Israel Radio reported Saturday. Shamir's statement appeared to set up a diplomatic confrontation over the U.N. Security Council's decision to send a delegation to Jerusalem to probe last Monday's Temple Mount riot and the subsequent police response.

Responding with anger to a U.N. condemnation of Israel for the deaths of Palestinian rioters in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir rejected any outside intervention as an attempt to punish his nation, Israel Radio reported Saturday. Shamir's statement appeared to set up a diplomatic confrontation over the U.N. Security Council's decision to send a delegation to Jerusalem to probe last Monday's Temple Mount riot and the subsequent police response.

Secretary of State James A. Baker III, in a reversal of policy, said Wednesday that the United States is ready to discuss sending a U.N. observer force to the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. At a White House news conference, Baker said, "We would be prepared to discuss the question of a U.N. observer team if that indeed comes up at the U.N. Security Council session."

Michael A. would seem to have good reason to want U.N. observers of some sort overseeing the West Bank, where his hometown of Beit Sahur is located among olive groves and pasture. Last Monday, he and witnesses said, a group of demonstrators were set upon by clusters of Israeli security agents wearing Arab headdress and carrying concealed pistols. When the impersonators got close, they opened fire and wounded about 20 demonstrators, all below the waist. Michael A.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat urged the U.N. Security Council on Friday to send an emergency force to protect Arabs in the Israeli-occupied territories from a "war of extermination." Opening an emergency council session, Arafat called for an end to Israel's 23-year-old occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a ban on Jewish settlements in the territories and international sanctions against Israel.

Israeli and U.S. officials Monday rejected a reported offer by Yasser Arafat to participate in direct talks with the Jewish state, a proposal that appeared to mark a tactical retreat on the part of the PLO leader. "I accept talks with the Israelis in the presence of the five permanent members of the (U.N.) Security Council at the negotiating table because I want a guarantee, and I need the pressure of the five on Israel," Arafat was quoted in the Paris newspaper Le Figaro.

The U.N. General Assembly may leave New York next September if the United States insists on closing the Palestine Liberation Organization mission here, officials said Friday. The PLO was invited by the United Nations to participate in U.N. meetings without the right to vote and the threat to close its mission has caused controversy in the world body.

For President Bush and his Persian Gulf policy, the weeklong debate at the United Nations that ended in a relatively mild censure of Israel over the killing of 19 Palestinians was a perilous exercise in which a single misstep could have spelled disaster. As it turned out, the U.S. government dodged the bullet this time. But the action demonstrated just how fragile and delicately balanced the American-led coalition against Iraq really is. If the U.N.

Michael A. would seem to have good reason to want U.N. observers of some sort overseeing the West Bank, where his hometown of Beit Sahur is located among olive groves and pasture. Last Monday, he and witnesses said, a group of demonstrators were set upon by clusters of Israeli security agents wearing Arab headdress and carrying concealed pistols. When the impersonators got close, they opened fire and wounded about 20 demonstrators, all below the waist. Michael A.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat urged the U.N. Security Council on Friday to send an emergency force to protect Arabs in the Israeli-occupied territories from a "war of extermination." Opening an emergency council session, Arafat called for an end to Israel's 23-year-old occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a ban on Jewish settlements in the territories and international sanctions against Israel.

Secretary of State James A. Baker III, in a reversal of policy, said Wednesday that the United States is ready to discuss sending a U.N. observer force to the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. At a White House news conference, Baker said, "We would be prepared to discuss the question of a U.N. observer team if that indeed comes up at the U.N. Security Council session."

Arab nations withdrew their bid to have the PLO recognized by the United Nations as the "provisional government of Palestine," which had prompted a U.S. threat to cut off contributions to the world body. A face-saving compromise was played out on the floor of the General Assembly to spare the sponsors the embarrassment of losing a vote on the resolution.

Bowing to intense U.S. pressure and the urging of friends including the Soviet Union, the Palestine Liberation Organization agreed not to press for a vote Monday on a resolution that would enhance its U.N. status. Its U.N. observer, Zehdi Labib Terzi, told reporters, "We are not pushing for a vote this afternoon." He declined to say how long the deferment will extend. But many delegates said no vote is expected before the General Assembly adjourns by the middle of the month.

Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III ordered the Justice Department on Wednesday to delay an announcement on the closing of the Palestine Liberation Organization's observer mission in New York after State Department officials and Arab-American groups strongly objected to the plan.

The U.N. Security Council voted 14-0 to condemn the assassination of PLO deputy commander Khalil Wazir; the United States abstained. Tunisian officials and Israeli sources say Israeli commandos gunned down Wazir, 52, at his home in suburban Tunis on April 16. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied the allegation. The Security Council resolution condemns the slaying but does not explicitly criticize Israel. Both Tunisia and the PLO expressed satisfaction with the U.S.

Voting on a controversial resolution to upgrade the U.N. status of the Palestine Liberation Organization was postponed until Monday, the Arab League's U.N. observer, Clovis Maksoud, said. The United States has threatened to withhold its U.N. dues if the General Assembly upgrades the PLO delegation from that of an observer state. The United States pays 25% of the annual U.N. budget of about $850 million, although it is $430 million in arrears.

In a preemptive diplomatic strike, the Bush Administration threatened Monday to end financial support of the United Nations if it approves an Arab plan to upgrade the status of the Palestine Liberation Organization from "observer organization" to "observer state." "We feel so strongly about this that we will cut off funding," State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said. An end to U.S. contributions, which traditionally cover one-fourth of the U.N.