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CNN Sunday Morning

Arafat Stays Inside Citing Safety Concerns

Aired April 14, 2002 - 11:16   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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: So once again, Secretary Powell is now on his way to Tel Aviv, after having met with Arafat earlier today, and they met in Ramallah and that's where our Michael Holmes is now.

Now apparently, Michael, Arafat did not emerge from the compound because of his fear of his life. Instead, he welcomed Secretary Powell, who entered the compound. What did -- what is it likely that Secretary Powell saw when he got to the Ramallah area?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it depends which way he came. What I can tell you is that if you come a certain direction, you won't see much. If you come another direction, you'll see an awful lot. If Colin Powell drove through the center of Ramallah, which I very much doubt, he would have seen an awful lot of damage, a lot of destruction, a lot of roads that have been torn up by tanks or torn up by heavy equipment to create barricades of sorts.

When he actually got to the compound, he saw a fairly cleaned up area outside. There's a large car park area there, several acres, a couple of acres perhaps, and when I was last there it had at least three tanks, several armored vehicles and armored personnel carrier in that car park. There was also a lot of wrecked cars, damaged cars by being crushed or burned, and when he got there today, and when I got there today too, there was none of that. Something of a cleanup was underway.

As you said, Yasser Arafat did not exit the building, him citing security concerns. He said goodbye to Colin Powell at the door, and came no further. Inside the building, when I was in there more than a week ago now, conditions were very cramped, very tight, but we're told by people inside there that they've become a lot worse, especially in terms of sanitation with water being off for pretty much the whole time.

A couple of reactions from Palestinian sources that we've been speaking to. They said that the meeting was very deep. They said that it went reasonably. Now they did also tell us that it didn't just concern talk of ceasefire and withdrawal.

It also concerned broader political issues, and tomorrow Colin Powell's people will meet with Yasser Arafat's people and they will be discussing what's been called here, and has been called for some time, the broad political horizon. That is going past an immediate ceasefire, past even a withdrawal, and looking to what might stick in a longer-term plan.

The Palestinians holding very firm on one thing, however. They say that there will be no direct negotiations with the Israeli government until there is a complete withdrawal from reoccupied areas. At this stage, that's not appearing likely, given what the Israeli government said that their mission is not yet complete, and certainly here in Ramallah, no sign of that happening.

There's been gunfire about 100 feet, 150 feet from us, as troops have been entering a house there. So there's still a lot of movement on the streets of Ramallah but not by ordinary citizens. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And therein lies the problem once again, yet conditions for another stalemate there, Michael. Now earlier this morning on the morning talk shows, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice made it very clear, touching on exactly what you did just a moment ago, that this is not just about military strategy, but their discussions between Powell and Arafat and even Sharon.

They have to be talking about law enforcement. They've got to be talking about intelligence as well, and rebuilding of an infrastructure, and that's indeed what you're hearing from Palestinians there, who say they want to make sure that those discussions involve those other parameters?

HOLMES: Absolutely. They want it to be inclusive of that. In fact, we're told by our sources that at the meeting, Yasser Arafat actually asked Colin Powell for a U.S. led damage assessment team to come in to places like Ramallah and other areas in the West Bank, and just ascertain how badly damaged the security infrastructure has been.

Now I can tell you that the preventive security headquarters, which is the headquarters for all security operations. It was built partly with American money, and some of the staff there were trained by the U.S. That is rendered all but useless. It was a scene of a very severe battle. It's no longer of any use. It will need to be completely rebuilt, the same as the story with police stations around the city, other security officers, and of course, the Palestinian Authority headquarters itself, large areas of which will need completely to be rebuilt.

Now what the Palestinians are saying is if there is a ceasefire and we do commit to cracking down on terrorists, suicide bombers who may want to go into Israel, we have nothing with which to do that, and so they're seeking large amounts of money for a rebuilding program of the security infrastructure so they can take on the task of trying to keep groups under control who may want to do Israel harm.

Now of course then, you're into the question of whether Yasser Arafat has control over some groups, particularly groups like Hamas, who do not recognize even this ongoing process now involving Colin Powell. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks very much. Michael Holmes from Ramallah this morning.

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