PALESTINIAN LEGISLATOR ORDERED TO CLOSE OFFICE.

Byline: Associated Press

The Jerusalem office of a Palestinian legislator has been ordered closed because it is operating in violation of the Israel-PLO peace agreements, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.

Hatem Abdel Kader, a member of the Palestinian legislative council, said the closure was illegal because the office, located in his home, was not part of Yasser Arafat's self-rule government.

``I am not part of the Palestinian Authority. This is not the office of a minister or deputy minister. It's my house,'' Abdel Kader said.

Israel sees Palestinian offices in Jerusalem as symbols of Palestinians' desire to make east Jerusalem - home to about 155,000 Arabs and captured by Israel in 1967 - the capital of a Palestinian state.

Orient House, the PLO's unofficial headquarters in east Jerusalem, has been tolerated by the Israelis as long as it has not been used to host foreign visitors of the rank of foreign minister and above.

The status of the disputed city remains to be settled in Israel-PLO talks. Netanyahu reaffirmed Sunday that Jerusalem would not be divided again and said the Palestinians had pledged not to open government offices there.

``We are witnessing as we speak a violation of that solemn commitment. We insist that commitment be kept,'' he said.

Two Israeli officials delivered a letter Sunday from Public Security Minister Avigdor Kahalani ordering Abdel Kader to close the office within 24 hours and warning that otherwise it would be closed by police.