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U.S. Envoy in Tel Aviv to Meet With Israeli Prime Minister

Aired March 14, 2002 - 14:30   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Diplomacy and work in the Middle East, today. U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni in the region to try to forge a foundation for peace. Zinni has arrived in Tel Aviv, where he is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. That will not be an easy assignment.

And with that arrival, the deadly violence still continues there. Mike Hanna now with more on the violence that he has seen thus far today in Jerusalem. Here's Mike.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE HANNA, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: This is the reality on the ground confronting the special U.S. envoy; the biggest military operation in two decades, as troops reoccupy a number of Palestinian areas.

(SIRENS)

HANNA: A massive loss of Palestinian life in these military deployments. Loss of life, too, on the Israeli side, as Palestinian gunmen attack Jewish settlers and the troops guarding them. And suicide bombers continue to threaten strikes on the very heart of Israel.

The region's violence, nothing new to Anthony Zinni. Both of his previous visits were marked by an increase in the level of conflict. The man who had come to negotiate a cease-fire ended up paying respects to yet more dead.

MAHDI ABDUL HADI, PALESTINIAN ACADEMIC SOCIETY: If he will not be able to hold Sharon tanks and firing and killing Palestinians, and if he will not be able to find an access for Arafat to go to Beirut to attend the Arab summit, I think his mission will be failed.

HANNA: The conflict Zinni is coming to try and resolve is more intense than ever; the results, says this analyst, of two factors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That the Palestinians have learned that there is profit in killing Jews. There is political capital to be made. The other is, that there has been a process of legitimization of the slaughter of Jews in this country.

HANNA: Zinni's task: to revive a cease-fire plan drawn up by CIA Director George Tenet. Among the steps demanded of the Palestinian leadership: to arrest known militants, confiscate illegal weapons, and do everything possible to end attacks on Israelis. Demanded of Israel: to lift the blockade on Palestinian territory, to stop the killing of individual Palestinian militants and to withdraw forces to the positions they held before September 2000.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The thing is that Israelis must know that once they make these concessions, they are going to have peace and quiet at home. That they can walk, safely to their cafes, and go to their shopping malls without being slaughtered.

HADI: We have been sacrificing hundreds of people, from both houses. And we need international presence, not only to protect the Palestinians, but to separate Palestinians and Israelis for the time being.

HANNA: Palestinians have made repeated calls for international monitors on the ground. But Ariel Sharon made clear he believes that would internationalize the conflict, rather than contain it.

(on camera): Both sides have welcomed Zinni's return, but neither side has indicated it will take the steps necessary to ensure this mission ends differently from those that failed before. Mike Hanna, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Mike is back later tonight too in our Middle East special. "LIVE FROM JERUSALEM" comes your way this evening, 8:00 East Coast time, 5:00 in the West.

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