The World - News from May 10, 1989

The Palestine Liberation Organization, stepping up its campaign for international recognition of Palestine as a state, applied to join UNESCO and said it will ask to join two other U.N. bodies. The request follows the PLO’s controversial bid to join the World Health Organization, which sparked U.S. threats to cut off its substantial contributions if the PLO succeeds in joining. Omar Massalha, PLO observer at the Paris-based U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, said Arab states are studying ways to compensate for the U.S. threat. The PLO also plans to apply for membership in the Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome and the International Labor Organization in Geneva.