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CNN Live At Daybreak

Cheney Says He Has No Immediate Plans to Meet With Arafat

Aired March 25, 2002 - 05:05   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: We want to turn our attention now to violence in the Middle East. Vice President Cheney says he has no immediate plans to return to the region to meet with Yasser Arafat. Cheney says the Palestinian leader hasn't done enough to bring about a cease-fire between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Security officials from both sides are scheduled to meet again today with U.S. Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni.

That Arab summit in Beirut will focus attention on a city still bearing scars from a 15 year long civil war.

CNN Beirut bureau chief Brent Sadler looks at how the years have brought changes to the metropolis on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, NBC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's an image reminiscent of the civil war years, anti-aircraft guns on Beirut's sea front, the famed Cornishe (ph), and the heaviest military presence in more than a decade as Arab leaders assemble in the Lebanese capital. In a nation once consumed by terror, the authorities say they're taking no chances and have spent months preparing. The conference center facade suggests the one time playground of the Middle East is regaining its luster.

It's true that parts of Beirut are a flashy place to be. Not many fast food outlets in the world provide valet parking and downtown reconstruction boasts redevelopment on a grand scale. Pavement cafes are bustling. Gulf states invest heavily in a country they say is shaky in the economic present, but shows promise in the future.

(on camera): The remodeling and reuniting of a city once blasted into a deserted ruin takes more than just money and manpower.

(voice-over): For 15 years, Lebanon tore itself apart on sectarian lines during the civil war. Muslims and Christians battled for dominance. When the guns fell silent some 11 years ago, Beirut began to rise from the ashes. Political power shifted in favor of Muslims. But progress is now being hindered, says this former warlord, by old rivalries.

WALID JUMBLATT, DRUZE LEADER: But don't forget that we are in a state of no war and no peace. But it's very dynamic and challenging compared to the rest of the Arab world.

SADLER: Sunset and the sound of religious coexistence echoes across the city -- church bells and Muslim calls to prayer competing for attention, a sound of progress after the years of violent confrontation.

ASSEM SALAM, ARCHITECT: But there is definitely a clear atmosphere, a cultural atmosphere, a political atmosphere that still divides the two cities.

SADLER: And along the old battle front called the green line dividing Christian East from Muslim West Beirut stands an enduring symbol of the war riddled with bullet holes and shellfire, left untouched, claim the distraught owners, because redevelopment plans were frozen by politically motivated red tape.

CHARLES FARES, BUILDING OWNER: It's not only by building new buildings or renovating buildings that the results of the civil war are achieved or we can say that it's over. No. The mentality should change in this country, too. It's a bad souvenir we should definitely erase from our minds.

SADLER: One of the last war time relics awaiting a new lease of life.

Brent Sadler, CNN, Beirut.

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