From: "Walter Lippmann" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 22:40:36 -0700 To: "CubaNews" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [CubaNews] Arafat sends thanks to Castro Posted at 11:02 a.m. EDT Friday, June 15, 2001 Arafat sends message of thanks to Castro HAVANA -- (AP) -- Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat send a message of thanks to Fidel Castro for supporting the Palestinian people in their conflict with Israel. The message was read late Thursday by the Palestinian Ambassador to Havana during a support rally attended by several thousand people and headed by Castro. ``In the name of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, I feel honored to thank you and Fidel Castro for all the support you have given,'' said the note. The evening demonstration was held outside the U.S. Interests Section, the American mission here. Flanked by Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and Otto Rivero, president of the Union of Young Communists, Castro sat in the front row of the audience attending the event. The support rally was held at the end of a two-day gathering of representatives of countries throughout Latin American and the Caribbean on Palestine. The forum was sponsored by the United Nations, the Cuban Foreign Ministry, along with a Palestinian rights organization. Participants earlier Thursday approved a declaration calling on the international community to increase ``efforts in defense of the Palestinian people's right to self-determination,'' the Communist Party daily Granma reported Friday. The declaration also called for Israeli withdrawal from Palestine. Cuba has no diplomatic relations with Israel and has long supported the Palestinians in their territorial fight. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
