Syria proposed today to the Arab countries the creation of a joint military command comprising the Palestine Liberation Organization as well as Jordan, Egypt and Syria.
In a proposal for a joint Arab strategy, the Syrian delegate to a preparatory meeting here before an Arab leadership conference was pessimistic about chances of a negotiated settlement in the Middle East. Abdel Halim Khaddam, Syria’s Foreign Minister, called on the Arab countries to focus their efforts on increasing their military potential against Israel.
Mr. Khaddam’s proposal came on the second day of talks by delegations from 20 member countries of the Arab League and the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is the main grouping of guerrillas.
Their task is to lay the groundwork for a three ‐ day conference of Arab Presidents and Kings scheduled to start on Saturday.
The talks, which opened yesterday at the. Hilton Hotel outside the Moroccan capital, are dominated by a controversy between the Palestinians and Jordanians, both demanding exclusive control over any territory relinquished by Israel in the occupied West Bank of the Jordan River.
An assertion by the Palestine Liberation Organization that it is the sole representative of the Palestinian people has been publicly endorsed by all the countries represented except Jordan, and King Hussein has threatened to withdraw from any future negotiations—in Geneva or elsewhere — involving the West Bank if this position is reaffirmed.
Although the positions of the Palestinians and the Jordanians appear irreconcilable, it was clear here today that even the militant Arab countries would like to avoid a break with King Hussein.
Thus it was Syria, one of the militants, that insisted the eight‐member working group for today’s discussions should include both the Jordanians and the Palestinians.
At a luncheon by Ahmed Laraki, the Moroccan Foreign Minister, the Jordanian Premier and Foreign Minister, Zaid alRifai, sat with the representative of the Palestinians, Faruk Kaddoumi, and four Other delegates at the same table. The discussion was animated with much laughter and apparent banter.
