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Al-Jazeera Interview with Israeli Prime Minister Canceled

Aired March 26, 2002 - 10:38   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 LIN, CNN ANCHOR: We had expected to bring you unprecedented interview on Arab television of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. That interview suddenly canceled at the last minute. We're trying to figure out exactly what happened.

CNN's Mike Hanna in our Jerusalem bureau with more on this.

It really turned into a mess, Mike, didn't it?

MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed it did, Carol. The interview seen as important by Israel. Ariel Sharon had said that he wanted to go to Arab summit in Beirut to address Arab leaders, and certainly giving an interview on Al-Jazeera would have been a very effective avenue for Mr. Sharon to put his point of view to the Arab world in general.

Now both Ariel Sharon's office and the Al-Jazeera network have said the interview canceled because of technical problems. Al-Jazeera says that the Israeli government made unacceptable demands at technical level, and wouldn't give into the pressure. Israel said that Al-Jazeera didn't meet its commitments in terms of conducting the interview on technical basis.

Now what this is all about may actually be quite a simple issue: that is that anybody with any dealing with the Sharon office knows that the Israeli prime minister doesn't like using an earpiece in interviews. That is one of these devices that I'm wearing in my ear. Now, on numerous occasions, the Israeli media, the media handlers of Mr. Sharon, have said that they will not do an interview if the Israeli prime minister wears such an earpiece, because he finds it's difficult to hear the questions, and he prefers to do interviews on a face-to-face basis with correspondents.

So beyond this whole mounting drama about the interview that's canceled may be a very simple fact indeed, and that is that the Israeli prime minister does not want to wear an earpiece -- Carol.

LIN: Imagine getting down to such a small detail like that. But, Mike, we were expecting the prime minister to perhaps make some news. He had wanted to go to the Arab League Summit himself to give Israel's position, as well as there's a question as to whether the Israeli government is going to allow Yasser Arafat to travel to the summit which starts tomorrow.

Do you have any idea what the prime minister would say on either matter during this interview?

HANNA: Well, it would appear that the Israeli government is not going to take decision on whether or not to allow Arafat to go to the Arab summit until the last moment.

Now, this could be as late the Israeli government indicate as Wednesday morning. That's just a matter of hours before the summit begins to. Now Israel has dropped its cease-fire in place before Arafat allowed to travel. Israel says that this still are some conditions that should be met, such as Arafat instructing his security forces to clamp down on militants, that Arafat should make a cease- fire call in Arabic to the Palestinian people. So these conditions are laid down.

But there's been immense pressure from the U.S. and others on Israel to allow Arafat to go to the summit without any precondition. The U.S. point of view that Arafat's presence at the summit would make it easier and more productive to discuss the Saudi peace plan, a peace plan for an Arab-Israeli peace that the U.S. sees as a vital function in terms of getting some kind of agreement under way, some kind of peace process under way, again.

But in terms of the decision as to whether Israel will allow Arafat to travel, that could come in a matter of some 12-18 hours, just a very, very short while before the Arab summit due to begin -- Carol.

LIN: To the unseasoned political ear. One might ask why doesn't Yasser Arafat simply do those things? He's condemned the previous attacks in the last few days against Israelis. Why doesn't he go ahead and make this announcement for a cease-fire in Arabic, tell his people to reduce the violence, and then he go to summit, and then the Saudi peace initiative can be discussed, as the Arab world wants it to be done?

HANNA: You mentioned the word there that may explain some of that, and that is "political." And it's political pressure on the Palestinians streets. Yasser Arafat does not want to be seen to be bowing to any pressure, outside pressure, either that being inserted by Israel or that being exerted by the United States. Now he wants to imply that he's taking his own decisions, that he is not entering into a cease-fire process, because he's being pressured to do so by Israel or the U.S., but because he wants to do so.

To meet with Israeli demands such as have been made in recent days would, perhaps be seen by Palestinians, as Arafat bending down to this particular. So there is that element to it, that that may be one of the reasons why Arafat will not do so.

Another is that Palestinian leaders have been saying that these calls were made by Arafat, by December 16th. She called very loudly, and very publicly for a cease-fire in both English and Arabic. So the Palestinians are contending that call has been made, but they say as well completely unacceptable for Israel to set any conditions whatsoever on the movement of the Palestinian leaders. So it's an ongoing argument. It has to do with politics, has to do with saving face, has to do with finding some reason to be able to back down on public positions while not using domestic political support -- Carol.

LIN: All right, thank you very much, Mike Hanna. It looks this one is going to go down to the wire.

The Arab League summit officially begins tomorrow.

Mike Hanna, in our Jerusalem bureau.

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