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CNN Live At Daybreak

Cheney In Middle East; Violence Continues Overnight in Israel

Aired March 12, 2002 - 06:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Vice President Dick Cheney is heading to Jordan right now. He's on a 12-nation diplomatic mission to shore up support for the war on terrorism and to find a way to end the violence in the Middle East.

CNN Senior White House Correspondent John King has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Tough talk about Iraq was well received in London, but will pose a diplomatic challenge as the U.S. vice president moves on now to Jordan and other stops in the Middle East.

JAFFA HASSAN, DEP. CHIEF OF MISSION JORDANIAN EMBASSY TO U.S.: And we totally reject a military solution to that problem. We don't think it's the best way to deal with things. On the contrary, it's a nightmare for most of the countries in that region.

KING: Mr. Cheney and the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, cast Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as the major threat to security in the region.

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: No decisions have been taken on how we deal with this threat, but that there is a threat from Saddam Hussein and the weapons of mass destruction that he has acquired is not in doubt at all.

KING: But in the Arab world, deadly Israeli-Palestinian violence is a greater concern and complicates Mr. Cheney's diplomatic challenge.

LEE HAMILTON, WOODROW WILSON INSTITUTE: The Arab world has a very strong feeling now that the United States is heavily biased in our policy towards Israel, and that will not be easily overcome.

KING: Top Blair advisers voice worries that Arab resentment will make it harder for the White House to sell a tougher posture toward Iraq and broader goals in the war on terrorism. Mr. Cheney will praise the new Saudi-Middle East peace initiative and promise an aggressive push for a cease-fire when the White House special envoy, retired Marine General Anthony Zinni, returns to the region this week.

But the vice president rejects the notion that Arab support for confronting Iraq is somehow linked to U.S. policy in the Israeli- Palestinian dispute.

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm sure they're linked in some minds, but the fact of the matter is we need effective policies to deal with both situations.

KING: But it was clear even here in the friendliest of territories, that like it or not, these two challenges are now intertwined, and as Mr. Cheney heads to the Middle East to try to sell Arab nations on a tough U.S. posture toward Iraq, he in turn will face pressure for more consistent and more even handed U.S. pressure to end 18 months of bloody Israeli-Palestinian violence.

John King, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And we want to get more now on the situation between the Israelis and the Palestinians. I don't really have to tell you this, but violence is raging again today. Israel has launched new deadly raids into Palestinian territories. Our senior international correspondent Sheila MacVicar joins us again live from Jerusalem to tell us about this latest round of violence.

Good morning Sheila.

SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Carol.

Well, we've just had word of an attack on an Israeli bus on the Israeli-Lebanese border. We are told there are casualties. At the moment we do not know how many. We do not know what kind, and there has so far been no claim of responsibility for that attack. But it is, indeed, a roaring development in a period of time, which has seen greatly increased Israeli military activity action against Palestinian communities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It began, again, last night just after midnight local time, when rather Israeli forces, dozens of tanks and soldiers, went into the nationalist stronghold of Jabalya in the Gaza Strip.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MACVICAR (voice-over): There was a fierce firefight here in the crowded alleyways of this camp. In less than two hours, 17 Palestinians were dead. Eighty more were wounded, and from the mosques came an appeal for blood donations. The chief negotiator for the Palestinians called it a bloodbath. Prime Minister Sharon has said this military operation is meant to subdue Palestinian resistance. Last night this leader of Hamas called for revenge.

ABDEL AZIZ RANTISI, HAMAS SPOKESMAN: We will retaliate, and Sharon -- you should wait.

MACVICAR: Two hours later, as Israeli forces pulled out of Jabalya, on the West Bank dozens more tanks and troops prepared to enter Ramallah. Israeli tanks rumbled past garden walls. There was no sleep. At least two people died, more are wounded. Ambulances could not move to the city.

Just yesterday Mr. Sharon had said Yasser Arafat was free to travel the West Bank in Gaza. This morning, tanks were again outside his office.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Now, Carol, it's fairly obvious, given the ongoing situation in Ramallah, that Mr. Arafat is not able to move very far at all from his headquarters in that city. Israeli forces remain in that city. We are told that in some parts of the city they are calling on men and boys, 15 and over, to come out to surrender as they have done in other communities. These men are being taken to a place to have their identities checked to see if they are on any kind of Israeli wanted list. In other parts of the community, though, the situation remains very tense indeed -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Sheila MacVicar reporting live for us from Jerusalem this morning. Thank you very much.

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