Conflicting reports given of Arafat assassination try

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) denied a report that PLO leader Yasser Arafat had been the target of an assassination attempt early Monday. The Palestinian news agency WAFA also denied the report.

The Christian Phalangist radio report came amid a widening rebellion by PLO guerrillas opposed to Arafat's leadership. PLO dissidents in Arafat's own Fatah commando group have consolidated their hold on six logistical bases around Damascus.

Voice of Lebanon radio, run by the right-wing Christian Phalangists, said Arafat's driver was killed, but that the PLO guerrilla leader escaped the attack on the Syrian-Lebanese border.