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TITLE: Hammoud Says Refugees Here Will be First in Line After Accord |
AUTHOR: Khalil Fleihan |
PUB: Daily Star |
DATE: January 7, 2001 |
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Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud said Thursday that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has promised that refugees here would receive "priority" if their return were agreed to under a regional settlement. Hammoud, who made the comments to the National News Agency from the Arab foreign ministers' meeting in Cairo, said Arafat told the ministers that priority would be given to find a solution for the approximately 365,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Arafat added that such solution should be based on the Palestinian right of return in other words, no Palestinian refugee will remain in Lebanon, according to Hammoud. "Lebanon's stand insists on demanding the right of return and refusing any form of settlement," he said. The minister was in Cairo for the emergency ministerial meeting of the follow-up committee formed during October's Arab Summit in Cairo. On Wednesday, Arafat accepted President Clinton's suggestion that 10 days of intensive peace talks be held with Israel under US auspices, as the basis for peace negotiations. The US proposals aim to resolve outstanding issues, one of which is the Palestinian refugees' right of return. Hammoud said the committee "unanimously" supported Lebanon's stand on refugees. Diplomatic sources said from the Cairo meeting that Hammoud had expressed reservations concerning the current negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis. "We already know the results of such talks, which will lead to nowhere," Hammoud said, according to the sources. Hammoud called President Emile Lahoud to brief him about the meeting's results. END |