Arabs twist tail of IMF to get PLO observer seat

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia informed the International Monetary Fund Saturday they will not provide any new loans unless the Palestine Liberation Organization is admitted as an observer at the fund's annual meeting. The IMF is scheduled to hold its annual meeting in Washington later this month and the United States has proposed that observer status be restricted to those that were present last year, which would rule out the PLO. Reports from Saudi Arabia, not officially confirmed, said the desert kingdom is also freezing a planned loan of $420 million to the World Bank because of the PLO dispute.