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SV Popular Liberation Front for Palestine spokesman Bassam Abu Sharif speaking to newsmen in English (7 shots)
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SHARIF: "In the Jordanian prisons there are now 400 political prisoners, part of them are Jordanians and part are Palestinians."



SHARIF: "Comrade (indistinct), who's a member of the Politburo of the Popular Front, was on his way to the occupied territories because he had been there before, leading the upheaval of our masses on the West Bank, the Gaza and the 1948. Ah, on his way back to the occupied territories the Jordanian authorities captured him thus extending to the Israeli enemy one of the biggest steps of help."



REPORTER: "Are there more than one communist prisoner being taken, is there more than one reason for this?"



SHARIF: "Well, I think this is the main reason for capturing our comrade. But the rest of them, the rest of our political prisoners and mainly the Jordanians were captured later because they tried to make a coup d'etat against the regime. We ah...for the time being, the Popular Front will read its statement. We will not announce what particular steps we'll take but we reserve our full right to carry whatever step we feel necessary to liberate our comrades from the Jordanian prisons."




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Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: The Popular Liberation Front for Palestine has accused Jordan of holding 400 of its supporters and sympathisers in prisons and claims that some of them have been tortured. PLFP spokesman, Bassam Abu Sharif, told newsmen in Beirut on Thursday (14 July) that the prisoners could be released, although he declined to explain by what method. The news conference followed statements by U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Egypt's President Anwar Sadat and Jordan's King Hussein that the Palestine question would best be resolved by bringing a Palestinian homeland under Jordanian rule.