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Diplomats preparing for 'Palestinian State'

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	Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, left, and Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer during their meeting at Cankaya presidential palace in Ankara on Saturday, Aug. 5, 2000. Arafat arrived in Turkey as part of his drive to build support for an independent Palestinian state following the collapse of Middle East peace talks at the Camp David. (AP Photo/ Hussein Hussein)

August 7, 2000 

GAZA CITY (AP) - The Palestinian Authority began preparing diplomats Saturday for the declaration of a state, perhaps unilaterally, and the possibility of a resulting escalation of tensions with Israel.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Cabinet insisted in a meeting Friday that the declaration will be made Sept. 13 even if a final peace accord with Israel is not reached in time.

The Cabinet secretary-general, Ahmed Abdel Rahman, told 22 diplomats in the opening of a two-week course in Gaza Saturday that they may be required to act under difficult circumstances if the declaration is made without Israeli approval.

Israel has warned that it might annex parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip if the Palestinians make a unilateral declaration, a move that could deteriorate into violence.

"This course is part of a plan of the PLO and the Palestinian Authority to prepare for the establishment of a Palestinian state," Rahman told the veteran diplomats at the training session.

The emissaries will also be called on to gain support from countries like the United States, Canada and western European nations who have not yet given their final approval for a declaration.

"Of course our diplomats will be ready for any emergency situation," Ahmed Soubeh, general director of the diplomatic training center, said after the training. "We don't expect any confrontation. We hope that the Israelis will be the first to recognize our state."

Arafat committed to declare a state on Sept. 13 after Israel and the Palestinians agreed that they would complete the peace process by the deadline. Arafat aides had suggested before the Cabinet meeting Friday that the declaration could be put off until November.

"We will be ready to carry the burden of the next phase," Haela Abu Hasira, who will serve as ambassador in Gabon, told Israeli Channel Two TV of the uncertainty of the outcome of the declaration of statehood. She did not elaborate.

The Palestinian Authority has 59 embassies fully operating and about 27 delegations and missions located around the world, Soubeh said.

Arafat traveled to Turkey Saturday to meet leaders there as part of his campaign to win international approval for a declaration.

The United States supports the establishment of a Palestinian state but only as a result of the peace process. The negotiations faltered last month when a summit brokered by U.S. President Bill Clinton at Camp David between Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak failed.

When asked if a Palestinian ambassador would open an embassy in Tel Aviv in the near future, Abdel Rahman replied: "That's a simple mission. It will happen when Israel recognizes the declaration of Palestinian state."

The course is part of the gradual establishment of a Palestinian Foreign Ministry, Rahman said. Another course to train aspiring diplomats will open in October and supply Palestinian missions around the world with more manpower, Soubeh said.