U.S. denies visa to PLO leader Arafat - Yasir Arafat - Department of State statement - transcript

US Department of State Bulletin, Feb, 1989

DEPARTMENT STATEMENT, NOV. 26, 1988

The 1947 UN headquarters agreement obligates the United States to provide certain rights of entry, transit, and residence to persons invited to the UN headquarters district in New York City.

The Congress of the United States conditioned the entry of the United States into the UN headquarters agreement on the retention by the U.S. Government of the authority to bar the entry of aliens associated with or invited by the United Nations "in order to safeguard its own security."

In this regard, U.S. law excludes members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) into the United States by virtue of their affiliation in an organization which engages in terrorism. The Secretary of State is vested by law with the discretion to recommend to the Attorney General that the prohibition against a particular PLO member be waived.

The UN General Assembly in 1974 invited the Palestine Liberation Organization to participate as an observer at the General Assembly. The United States acknowledged that this UN invitation obligates the United States to accord PLO observers entry, transit, and residence; therefore, visa waivers have been issued to such individuals as a routine practice. As a result, a PLO Observer Mission has been in operation at the United Nations since 1975. The PLO, therefore, has had, and continues to have, ample opportunity to make its positions known to the membership of the United Nations.

On November 24, 1988, we received an application from Mr. Yasir Arafat, Chairman of the PLO, for a visa to attend the UN General Assembly session in New York City as an invitee. The Secretary of State has decided not to recommend a waiver of ineligibility in this case; the visa application, therefore, is not approved.

The U.S. Government has convincing evidence that PLO elements have engaged in terrorism against Americans and others. This evidence includes a series of operations undertaken by the Force 17 and the Hawari organizations since the PLO claimed to foreswear the use of terrorism in the Cairo declaration of November 1985. As Chairman of the PLO, Mr. Arafat is responsible for actions of these organizations which are units of Fatah, an element of the PLO of which he also is chairman and which is under his control.

The most recent sign of Mr. Arafat's associations with terrorism was the presence at the Algiers session of the Palestine National Council this month of Abu Abbas, a member of the Executive Committee of the PLO who has been convicted by the Italian judicial system of the murder of an American citizen, Mr. Leon Klinghoffer.

In summary, we find that:

* Tbe PLO, through certain of its elements, has employed terrorism against Americans;

* Mr. Arafat, as Chairman of the PLO, knows of condones, and lends support to such acts; he, therefore, is an accessory to such terrorism;

* Terrorism and those involved in it are a serious threat to our national security and to the lives of American citizens; and

* The headquarters agreement, contained in Public Law 80-357, reserves to us the right to bar the entry of those who represent a threat to our security.

The United States firmly believes that Palestinian political rights must be recognized and addressed. A comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict is achievable through the peace process that already has brought significant progress. Palestinian participation is required at every stage of the negotiations required to achieve peace, justice, and security. Participation requires responsibilities, however. All parties must demonstrate their desire to make peace; they must adhere to internationally accepted principles and norms. No participant in a peace process can wave the flag of justice in one hand and brandish the weapons of terrorism in the other All participants must renounce violence and terrorism.

The outcome of the Palestine National Council session in Algiers produced signs that there are Palestinians who are trying to move the PLO in a constructive way. That is encouraging and should continue. It is unfortunate that the blight of terrorism still afflicts the Palestinian cause and leaves no alternative to decisions such as the Secretary has taken today.