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Secretary of State to Arrive in Jerusalem Tomorrow

Aired April 11, 2002 - 12:02   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.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of State Colin Powell is poised to launch his peacemaking mission. It begins in earnest tomorrow, when Powell is to meet in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. On the eve of that meeting, Powell has muted his earlier criticism of the Israelis.

We'll start in Amman, Jordan, where Powell arrived a short time ago, and CNN's Andrea Koppel is there and joins us by phone -- Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Fredericka, this is Secretary Powell's final stop in the Arab world. He is here in Amman the capital of Jordan, before he heads off to Israel later this evening. Secretary Powell has been looking for support from Arab leaders, in this case, from King Abdullah, to use their influence with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to reign in extremists and to try to bring about some kind of a cease-fire, but it is a hard sell.

I got to tell you, I am looking right now at the "Jordan Times", which is the English-language newspaper here in Jordan, and there are six stories on the front page, all of them have to do with the Israeli military incursion into the West Bank right now. Some of the headlines: "Sharon Vows to Press on After Suicide Attack, "The King Urges Coordination of Efforts in Dispatching Aide to the Palestinians." This is a country that is predominantly Palestinian. Sixty percent of Jordanians are ethnically Palestinian. And there have been massive demonstrations here, some of the largest demonstrations they've had in decades.

And so, the King of Jordan, like the Egyptian president, like the King of Morocco and other Arab leaders that Powell has met with thus far, is under tremendous pressure from his own people not to be seen as appearing too close to the United States for that matter or seeming to help out the Israeli government. So Secretary Powell is going to show up in Israel later tonight empty-handed as far as having support from the Arab world. But having said that, he is going to thrust himself really into the eye of the storm and tomorrow begin meetings with the Israeli prime minister. And he is expecting, Fredericka, to meet with the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, who is still under siege in his Ramallah headquarters on Saturday -- Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: And, Andrea, given the Palestinian population is very high in Jordan, that would seem that the pressure is great on Powell to initiate and to carry through on his promise to have talks with Yasser Arafat. KOPPEL: Absolutely. And that is something that Secretary Powell has already assured Arab leaders that he intends to do. Before arriving in the Arab world earlier this week, Secretary Powell was fairly non-commital about that.

But that has been essentially a pre-requisite that the Arab world has put on the table, saying that if Secretary Powell expects their support and their help on leaning on Yasser Arafat, that is Powell has got to show the international community that Israel's attempts to isolate Yasser Arafat are in vain and that the United States still views Yasser Arafat as the legitimate leader of the Palestinian people, and therefore, a partner for the Israelis in moving towards any kind of a cease-fire, for that matter, a peace deal.

WHITFIELD: All right. Andrea Koppel in Amman, Jordan, traveling with the secretary. Thanks very much.

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