Palestinian diplomats prepare for Statehood

GAZA, AUG 9. Diplomats of a future Palestinian State have gathered in a small room in Gaza to study the nuts and bolts of consular work.

``The first mission of the consul is to write to the party concerned in the host country informing them of his arrival,'' guest lecturer Mr. Ahmed Raslan, Egypt's Ambassador in Gaza, told the 22 participants yesterday. ``Then you have to put an ad in a local newspaper introducing your mission to your Palestinian community so they can visit the consulate,'' he said. ``The next step is to register your citizens in that country so you have a record of them.''

The two-week training programme for Palestinian diplomats serving in European and Arab countries was another sign of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) president, Mr. Yasser Arafat's intention to declare an independent State later this year, with or without a peace deal with Israel. Mr. Naim Samara, a former Palestinian guerilla, said he and most of the other participants in the course have been working as diplomats for the PLO since the it was forced out of Lebanon in 1982 after an Israeli invasion.

He said interim peace accords with Israel in 1993 have turned what he called ``freedom fighters'' into peacekeepers who would defend the interests and causes of their people from within the diplomatic corps. ``This is no less important than holding a rifle,'' said Mr. Samara, assistant to the PLO representative to Britain. ``When a State is declared, our mission will be enlarged so we can provide Palestinian communities with the services they need abroad,'' he told Reuters.

Mr. Ahmed Soboh, director-general of diplomatic training in the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, said participants were being updated on how to act when a State is declared.

- Reuters

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