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As Powell Races Around Mideast, Peace Process Moving at Snail's Pace

Aired April 15, 2002 - 10:05   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of State Colin Powell is in Damascus, Syria this hour, the latest stop in his search for peace in the Middle East. But as Powell races around the region, the peace process is moving at a snail's pace.

Our Wolf Blitzer is in Jerusalem with the latest -- Wolf, hello.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much, Daryn -- hello from Jerusalem. The secretary of state is having a very, very busy day. He woke up here in Jerusalem earlier today, first stop was Beirut. He is now in Damascus, the secretary of state, for what U.S. officials say will be important talks with the president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad.

This in the aftermath of concern that Syrian-backed, Iranian- backed Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon have been targeting Israeli positions in a small, disputed border area along the Israeli- Lebanese frontier. U.S. officials are deeply concerned that the Israelis might retaliate. This could escalate into a much broader regional war.

Earlier today, the secretary, while he was in Beirut for talks with Lebanon's president, as well as Lebanon's prime minister and foreign minister. He also spoke about mounting U.S. concerns over this continued Israeli military assault on targets in the West Bank. The secretary of state did outline the general vision of what he has in mind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: What I am interesting in doing right now, though, is bringing an end to the violence, bringing an end to this conflict. Because what we need to do is to get the violence down, so that we can go forward as quickly as possible to find a political solution, one that will deal with the problem in the territories, but will give us the basis for a comprehensive solution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And so while the secretary of state is off north of Israel in Beirut and in Damascus, he will be returning to Jerusalem later today presumably for a second round of talks, although this has not yet been officially confirmed, presumably a second round of talks tomorrow, Tuesday, with Yasser Arafat, and perhaps even more talks with the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon.

All of this is happening as there is continued violence on the West Bank in Bethlehem, not very far away from Jerusalem. For example, there were explosions heard earlier today, explosions near the Church of the Nativity, near Manger Square. Israeli officials say they planned those explosions. They say they found what they call terrorist bomb workshops or laboratories capable of creating weapons and bombs, and so they decided to blow up those workshops.

In Jenin, also on the West Bank, the refugee camp there, the scene of fierce Israeli fighting with Palestinians over these past several days. Israel has begun allowing international observers to enter that area amid a huge dispute. The Palestinians accuse the Israeli military of massacring hundreds of Palestinians during the course of the fighting. Israel strongly denies it.

Israel lost 23 of its own soldiers. Israel insists that, yes, there were Palestinians who were killed. Most, they say, were combatants, were militants, were gunmen. There were probably some civilians. They say the number is much closer to 100 rather than the 500 the Palestinians had insisted earlier in the week. We will know a lot more once we are able to get into that Jenin refugee camp as well -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Wolf, any idea on how long Colin Powell plans to stay in the area? The longer he says and the less he gets, his influence would seem to be waning.

BLITZER: Well, at some point he's going to have to make that decision. At this point, it is unclear. The assumption is he will be here at least tomorrow, Tuesday, maybe even Wednesday, but it's still very much up in the air. It depends on what he gets from the Israelis, from the Palestinians. If he sees an opening, an opening to try to get some sort of political process off the ground, once again, perhaps he will stay a little bit longer. But, you know, I don't think there is any firm hard and fast decision yet.

KAGAN: Well, you might get a glimmer of what he could get out of the Israelis when you talk with Prime Minister Sharon later on today.

BLITZER: I will be speaking with him around 1:45 Eastern Time here in Jerusalem, and I'll ask him the important questions of the day that a lot of people around the world would like to ask the prime minister of Israel. So we will have that exclusive interview here on CNN. I will be getting ready for it and driving over to the prime minister's residence later today.

KAGAN: Well, we'll let you go, so you can go and get ready for it, and you are exactly the one we would want in that interviewer seat for that big interview. Thank you so much -- Wolf Blitzer from Jerusalem. Once again, Wolf did the plug himself, 1:45 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: As Wolf mentioned here, Israeli troops today again exchanged gunfire with Palestinians taking refuge inside the Church of the Nativity, which is one of Christianity's holiest shrines, and controlled explosions have echoed around Bethlehem's Manger Square.

And joining us now on the phone is Hannah Nasser. He is the mayor of Bethlehem. We hope to learn some more about all of this.

Mayor, can you tell us exactly what you have seen and heard this morning regarding these explosions around that church?

HANNA NASSER, MAYOR OF BETHLEHEM: You know, I wonder. We are talking about explosions, and we are talking about exchanging fire. All what has been mentioned has not been confirmed yet. What is happening really all about is the issue of the Church of the Nativity is still pending until now. And we are trying to find a solution for this problem.

And you know there are considerable efforts now by the head of churches in Jerusalem to solve this matter, and we hope really to have a solution as soon as possible. And you know that head of churches had met for secretary, Mr. Colin Powell, and he listened to them attentively. And he promised to give them an answer. And until now, they didn't get a reply from the secretary of the United States, and we hope that the reply will be convenient to everybody.

The situation relatively in the city, it is calm with the exception of the searching of houses from one house to one house in the city of Bethlehem, and I would like it say the mood is still tense with the existence of the Israeli troops in the city of Bethlehem.

HARRIS: Mr. Mayor, can you tell us how much damage do you think the church has sustained? Has the building itself been damaged?

NASSER: No, it is like a fire that was caused in one of the reception halls, which is in the compound of the Church of the Nativity, but the church itself, thank god, it's far from being any harm has really touched the church altogether.

HARRIS: How about your city, Bethlehem? We know that you -- the city really went through a lot to dress itself up to get ready for the millennium. We saw quite a few pictures of the changes that town has gone through. And now, we are hearing about this operation. Are you concerned at all about the damage that your town is sustaining?

NASSER: No doubt. You know, we have spent so many efforts, and we have invested a lot of money in the private and the public sectors. We have spent more than $100 million before the end of the second millennium. And unfortunately now, the city is suffering about the consequences of instability since 18 months, especially this is the third incursion that the city is facing so far. And this is the most terrible and the most brutal invasion by the Israeli army to the city.

HARRIS: Let me ask you about one particular name I saw in a report this morning of the people that are inside this church. Do you know who actually is inside the church? I read this name this morning, Mohammed Madani, who is the governor of the Bethlehem District. Is he inside that church? I read a report that said that he was inside, and that he was not going to surrender unless Yasser Arafat told him to do so. NASSER: No. I want to tell you, first of all, this is -- to seek refuge in churches or mosques is something familiar, and this is a phenomenon that we are really accustomed to. And I would like to remind you then that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Bethlehem. I, myself, and my family had sought refuge in the Church of the Nativity out of fear of the Israeli troops. And these people, they did the same thing today with the difference that there are some gunmen plus the city leaders (ph) in the Church of the Nativity so far.

The governor of Bethlehem, you mentioned, he is accidentally there, and he is trying to help the situation, to find a resolution of the situation. And as I told you, we are waiting the reply from the first (ph) secretary of the United States to the head of churches in Jerusalem, and then we will act accordingly.

HARRIS: Can you tell us whether or not -- because there have been so many different conflicting reports whether or not water or food has actually been delivered inside, particularly to the monks inside who have no connection at all to this skirmish that's under way right now. But do you know whether or not any supplies like that actually have reached the people inside that church?

NASSER: Yes. I have been informed that a little portion of medicine and water has been delivered to the one of the monks there. Besides that, the compound it's all together. It has no electricity and no water, a big shortage of food, a big shortage of medicine. And the situation is very tense. It is dangerous. And there are still two corpses lying in the compound of the Church of the Nativity, and the Israeli troops are refusing to clear them out from the church so far. And you know, this is a very dangerous issue from the head's point of view.

HARRIS: Hanna Nasser, the mayor of Bethlehem, we thank you very much for your time, sir, in this tense time. As you say, we will continue to watch here that situation unfold.

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