Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Zinni To Hold Meeting With Arafat Despite Attack

Aired March 22, 2002 - 06:04   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: A U.S. peace initiative in the Middle East goes on today despite the latest Palestinian suicide bombing. U.S. Envoy Anthony Zinni did travel to Ramallah to hold talks with Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.

As CNN's Mike Hanna reports, Zinni's current Mideast mission had prompted optimism, but of course, that was before this latest attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. Envoy Anthony Zinni has seen this all before. His two previous missions marked by an upsurge in violence ended in failure. The man who had come to broker a peace then ended up mourning more dead.

But this time, there were distinct signs of progress in the cease-fire talks that took place before the bombing between Palestinian and Israeli security chiefs behind closed doors. Ariel Sharon had dropped his insistence that there would be no cease-fire talks until there was a complete end to violence and had declared he would hold discussions with any Palestinian leader once a cease-fire was implemented.

Before the Jerusalem attack, Israel's foreign minister was optimistic about an agreement.

SHIMON PERES, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: There is a fair chance for it, the parties are tired (ph), to tell the truth, and opportunity is more attractive than before, because for the Palestinians, they have what they asked for, a sort of a political horizon.

HANNA: Each side has now presented Zinni with a position paper outlining its view of how the Tenet cease-fire plan should be implemented. The plan, drawn up by the CIA director last year, provides for a series of tangible actions that Israel and the Palestinian Authority must be seen to take.

SAEB ERAKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: We hope now, since the American side now has the Palestinian plan and the Israeli plan, that the guiding lines will be a very simple principle. Tenet as was written no fragmentation, no missions, no additions, no selectivity.

HANNA: But the Jerusalem attack is seen by the Israeli government as evidence that Arafat will not or cannot meet a key Tenet dictate that there be a crackdown on militant groups and that every effort be made to end attacks against Israeli targets.

Within hours of the Jerusalem bombing, Arafat pledged to hunt down those responsible, but Israel and the U.S. are looking for more than pledges.

(on camera): Anthony Zinni has a clear mandate to determine whether each side is meeting its commitment to the cease-fire. It's a broad mandate given to the envoy by the president of the United States and acknowledged by both Israelis and Palestinians.

So at this stage, an announcement of the fate of the cease-fire process will be made by Anthony Zinni.

Mike Hanna, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.