PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat will not request a U.S. visa in order to address an Arab-American group and will visit the United States only if he gets an official invitation from Washington, an

aide announced in Cairo. Abdeen Jabara, president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said earlier this month that the group had invited Arafat to speak at its April meeting

and he had accepted. But Nabil Shaath, a top political adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization leader, announced that Arafat “will not go on an invitation from an unofficial

group.” Shaath did not explain why Arafat changed his mind. MORE TO READ