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Part of Peace Efforts in Mideast Is to Put Together Peace Conference

Aired April 15, 2002 - 11:05   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: Part of the efforts here to settle down what is taking place in the Middle East is to put together a peace conference. Not everybody wants to attend, and our Andrea Koppel has been traveling with Secretary of State Colin Powell. She joins us on the phone now from Tel Aviv. Andrea, what's the latest you can tell us about who might be there and who might not be forced to come along?

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Daryn. Well, actually I should tell you all of this is very preliminary, but what is newsworthy is that for the first time Secretary of State Powell has come back and spoken with those of us who are traveling along with him here in the Middle East, and he said that this is something that the U.S. is considering, having this kind of a peace conference on the Middle East to try to kind of cement a cease-fire and get all of the political aspects of it in place.

What had been holding this up and still has as yet to be resolved, is the fact that the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, said, sure, he would like to attend, and that would be fine for other Arab leader to attend and representatives of the Palestinian people, but he pretty much said he would not sit down with Yasser Arafat, the elected leader of the Palestinian people. And what Secretary Powell just said is basically it doesn't have to be a conference in which Arafat would attend himself. That he could empower someone in the Palestinian community to represent him.

Again, Daryn, this is all very preliminary, but it's certainly one of the main ideas that Secretary Powell has been working here since he arrived in the region a week ago to try to get the Israelis and the Palestinians some kind of a forum for them to agree to sit down and talk with one another to work way out of the situation that they're in right now -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, I mean, that's one idea, Andrea, but that would seem like that would be a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to Yasser Arafat and to the Palestinian people to say, well, your leader as they see it doesn't have to sit down at this table.

KOPPEL: Well, the way that they would finesse that, Daryn, is that it wouldn't necessarily be at the leadership level. It would be at ministerial level. Again, all this is very preliminary. They haven't made any decisions yet. But that it would be perhaps a representative of Sharon's government. It wouldn't necessarily be Ariel Sharon himself. And it would be a representative of Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority, and then other ministers from other Arab states, as well as perhaps European countries and the Unites States.

So that's one of the things that they are talking that is to how they might finesse it.

KAGAN: Understood. Andrea Koppel in Tel Aviv -- thanks very much.

Well, that's just one hot spot that the secretary of state is dealing with. He also went to Syria today. He is looking at what is happening in Syria and Lebanon as they relate to Israel. Let's check in with our Brent Sadler, who is standing by right now in Beirut, I believe -- Brent.

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Daryn, here in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Secretary of State Powell has spent much of this day with his attention diverted on the issue of another military quagmire along the Lebanese-Israel border. Secretary Powell having now left the region in terms of Syria and Beirut, gone back as you know to Tel Aviv, where we just heard from Andrea Koppel there.

And now, Secretary of State Powell said that he was aggressively restarting a political process, which he said could make a vision of peace in the Middle East become a reality.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Beirut, greeted by Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, a welcome guest carrying an unwelcome American request, spelling out action to stop Hezbollah attacks across the Lebanese-Israeli border threatening to open a second Middle East battlefront.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: It is essential for all those who are committed to peace to act immediately to stop aggressive actions along the entire border.

SADLER: But that's not how Lebanon sees it. President Lahoud characterizing Hezbollah guerillas as freedom fighters resisting Israeli occupation of Lebanese-claimed land at the foot of the Golan Heights called the Shebaa Farms. But Hezbollah's attacks violate a United Nations border line, provoking Israeli military retaliation against suspected guerrilla targets.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, who meets President Bush in Washington Wednesday, is pushing comprehensive peace with Israel, urging the U.S. to take a lead role, insisting that cease-fires without a political solution will fail.

RAFIQ HARIRI, LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER: We need strong efforts from the United States and a strong commitment from President Bush and the secretary. And we believe strongly that security is important, very important, but it is not a replacement of the peaceful agreement.

SADLER: Secretary Powell said that's why he is here.

POWELL: To talk about ending terror and violence, but with a clear understanding that that in and of itself won't be enough. Just as you said, all the cease-fires in the world will not solve the problem until there is a political solution. And that is our commitment, and we will devote all of our energies to it.

SADLER: By sounding out both Lebanon and Syria, Secretary Powell has expanded his Middle East mission. They might not like all of his messages, but both capitals welcome his involvement.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

But despite Secretary Powell's call, don't expect Hezbollah's cross-border attacks to stop, say officials and diplomats here, even if Palestinians and Israelis reach a cease-fire as a first step toward a possible political solution -- back to you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Brent, just quickly, if you could explain why it is that how things go in Lebanon depends on how things go in Syria.

SADLER: Well, Syria has some 20,000 troops stationed in Lebanon still. Israel holds Syria directly responsible for those Hezbollah attacks, Hezbollah coordinating with the Syrians, it is said by the Israelis. If that situation on the border goes out of hand, goes into wider conflict, then certainly expect Israel to take serious action against possible military targets, Syrian military targets, in Lebanon as well both Hezbollah targets and possibly Lebanese infrastructure.

So there really is a possible possibility of real escalating danger there should Hezbollah go on with those attacks -- Daryn.

KAGAN: A great international policy lesson in 30 seconds. Brent Sadler, well done -- thank you so much.

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