Arafat abruptly cancels trip to Damascus

DAMASCUS, Syria -- On the Syrian side, everything was in place Tuesday for Yasser Arafat's first official visit to Damascus since 1993.

Editorials in the state-run media warmly welcomed the trip, Prime Minister Mustafa Miro headed to the airport to officially receive Arafat and a delegation from the Palestinian territories had been in town for a couple of days to prepare for the talks.

But just as Arafat was about to depart Amman, Jordan, for Syria, the trip was abruptly called off -- and both sides traded blame for the cancellation.

The Syrians said Arafat asked for the delay so he could meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres; the Palestinians claimed it was Syria that came under pressure from Washington.

The incident is sure to further strain relations that have been chilly since 1983, when Arafat fell out with late President Hafez Assad and was effectively expelled from Damascus. Arafat's last official visit to Damascus took place in September 1993, shortly before cutting a framework peace deal with Israel that enraged Syria.

In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said in an interview Tuesday that he didn't make any specific suggestions concerning Arafat's trip to Damascus in conversations with the Palestinian leader, but Arafat was aware that Washington wanted a meeting with Peres to take place.

Arafat's planned visit had been seen by Syria as a signal the Palestinian leader was contemplating hardening his stance toward Israel. Arafat has for years relied on Egypt and Jordan, the only two Arab states at peace with Israel, for backing and mediation. Syria, in contrast, leads the camp opposed to concessions to Israel.

Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Shaath said Tuesday that Arafat and his entourage were on board the Palestinian leader's plane when they got a call from the Palestinian delegation in Damascus saying the Syrians had decided to indefinitely postpone Arafat's visit.

"We tried to contact Syrian officials from Amman airport where we had waited for more than two hours, but we did not succeed," Shaath said.

Shaath later denied reports that the Palestinians had canceled the meeting so Arafat could meet with Peres, telling The Associated Press that it was "clear that the meeting would take place after our two-day visit to Syria."

Upon his return to Gaza City, Arafat was asked about Syria's motives. "Go and ask them," he said before entering his office.

Hassan Asfour, Palestinian minister for non-governmental organizations, said Syria came under pressure from the United States and Israel to cancel the visit, adding "this (Syrian) act was done in a disrespectful and non-brotherly way."

"The Syrian political system lost the honor of an opportunity to welcome Yasser Arafat in this critical period," said Asfour. "The cancellation proves that the (Syrian) political system still lives in past problems."

"Our people will not forget what happened to their leader at Amman airport," he added.

On the Syrian side, two officials said the Palestinians called off the visit.

One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two hours before Arafat's scheduled arrival, the Palestinians told the Syrians through a high-ranking Arab official that they would like to reschedule the visit because Arafat had set an appointment with Peres for the same day.

The Arab official said the Palestinians wanted Syria to say it asked for a postponement so that Arafat would not bear responsibility for the delay, the Syrian official said.

The Syrians refused, pointing out that Damascus had already made the arrangements for the visit, the official added.

Indeed, state-run Tishrin newspaper spoke in a front-page editorial that was also carried by the official Syrian Arab News Agency about the importance of the expected meeting between Arafat and Bashar Assad, the son and successor of Hafez Assad.

Syria "has sought to solidify the Palestinian steadfastness in the face of the most violent instruments of aggression and to support the intefadeh (uprising) and realize the nationalist Palestinian goals to remove the occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital," said the editorial.

The paper said Syria has rejected several American and Israeli offers to give up this stand in exchange for the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau which Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war.

But Syria's response has been: "Palestine before the Golan," Tishrin said.

Arafat's trip had originally been scheduled for Sept. 12, but it was postponed after Israel sealed off the Gaza Strip, Arafat's headquarters, following the attacks in the United States.

A number of Arafat's top deputies had visited Syria recently with blueprints for Palestinian-Syrian relations.