BUSH EXTENDS PLO'S WASHINGTON PRESENCE AGAIN

Bush continues to legitimize PLO presence in Washington  (A.P.)

US President George W. Bush on Saturday extended the right of the PLO to maintain an official presence in Washington for another six months, just as he has done every six months since becoming president. Read the official letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice:

"I hereby determine and certify that it is important to the national security interests of the United States to waive the provisions."

Those provisions cited by the standard letter refer to the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987, which prohibits the PLO from maintaining an official presence in Washington. The act was passed into law during a time when the PLO was still recognized as the preeminent global terrorist network, and its leader Yasser Arafat as the Osama bin Laden of his day. Today, the Washington offices of the PLO act as the primary contact point between the Bush administration and PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas, who Bush insists is a "moderate," despite the fact that Abbas for decades served as Arafat's right-hand man. The PLO office's presence in Washington and official recognition by Bush also violates the so-called "Oslo" peace accords, which forbid the "Palestinians" from establishing de facto embassies and conducting foreign relations prior to a final peace agreement.