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CNN Live Today

Key Palestinian Militia Leader Reportedly in Israeli Custody

Aired April 15, 2002 - 11:02   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: First up this hour on CNN, a key Palestinian militia leader is reportedly to be in Israeli custody today. We just learned about this moments ago.

And CNN's Wolf Blitzer is watching the West Bank situation today for us from Jerusalem. He checks in now live -- hello, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Leon. This is a significant development, a major development. In fact Marwan Barghouti may not be familiar to many of our viewers in the Unites States, but I have to tell you in this part of the world, in Israel, in the West Bank among Israelis and Palestinians, a very familiar name indeed. He is the secretary-general of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.

He is not only seen as someone who by the Israelis who was masterminding some of the suicide bombings, the terrorist attacks against the Israelis, but he is also seen as someone who is a political figure. Indeed, over the years whenever there has been speculation of possible successors to Yasser Arafat, Marwan Barghouti's name is often mentioned as one of those individuals. He is very close to Yasser Arafat. He was picked up apparently by Israeli forces near Ramallah, near Yasser Arafat's headquarters, a building that, of course, only yesterday Secretary of State Colin Powell visited when he had those meetings.

So this represents someone very, very close to Yasser Arafat, someone well-known here, and clearly is going to cause some ripple effects for Israel as well as for the Palestinians -- Leon.

HARRIS: Wolf, give us an idea of when you think these ripple effects might actually look like or how they might be manifested here.

BLITZER: Well, among Palestinians, it will only harden their attitude, just as the secretary of state is trying to achieve some sort of cease-fire between the Israeli and the Palestinians. The Israeli assault, the Israeli military campaign has been going on now -- for what -- two weeks, and the secretary of state has been trying to end it, but trying to get hard deeds, commitments from the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat only yesterday to take specific actions to end some of these terror strikes against the Israelis.

But this is going to antagonize a lot of those Palestinians, saying the Israelis are going too far in going after someone like Marwan Barghouti who may, according to the Israelis, be a mastermind of terrorist strikes against Israel, but for Palestinians, he is sort of seen as a political figure, the leader, as I said, the secretary- general of Yasser Arafat's own Fatah movement.

One thing the Israelis do point out that Fatah movement has the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade associated with it, and of those several recent suicide attacks against Israelis, including the attack Friday at that open-air market here in Jerusalem was done by woman who was associated with the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, part of Fatah. And Fatah, of course, led by Yasser Arafat, but the secretary-general being Marwan Barghouti.

HARRIS: It could be a very interesting day. Wolf Blitzer, we'll get back with you later on.

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