PLO Chief Rejects Saudi Calls for Compromise

PALESTINE Liberation Organization chief Yasser Arafat has apparently rejected an appeal by Saudi Arabia's King Fahd to compromise on Palestinian representation in proposed Middle East peace talks.Mr. Arafat had "spoken with contempt," Palestinian officials Tuesday said Tuesday, about the king's appeal contained in a letter hinting at a Saudi desire to improve ties that soured over Arafat's support for Iraq during the Gulf crisis. The officials said the letter was the first from King Fahd to the PLO leader in several months. The king, angered by Arafat's stand during the Gulf crisis, cut financial support to the organization. "King Fahd told Abu Ammar [Arafat] that you have to accept that Palestinians be included in a sub-listed delegation [with Jordan] as the only way to get the peace process going," an official from the radical Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said. Arafat, he said, revealed details of the message during a meeting in Tunis July 15 of the PLO's executive committee that groups the main Palestinian factions. Asked about Arafat's response, the PFLP official, who declined to be named said: "He spoke about Fahd's message with contempt. He said, 'This is what we now get from the Arab brothers.