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CNN Live At Daybreak

U.S. Resolve Strong in Middle East

Aired April 16, 2002 - 06:02   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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: With more now on Secretary of State Colin Powell's diplomacy, we turn to CNN's Jerrold Kessel in Jerusalem -- good morning again, Jerrold. What can you tell us?

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well, I don't know about those sharp knives -- the Carvel (ph) sharp knives you were hearing, but there does seem to be plenty of U.S. resolve being brought to bear now in this Powell mission, the fifth day of the U.S. secretary of state's mediation mission to try to stem the bloodshed between the Israelis and the Palestinians. And this could be critical day with Mr. Powell suggesting that perhaps he would wind up that mission sometime late tomorrow, Wednesday.

But for the moment, this is a critical day on what form success, even though I don't think they really define what success of the Powell mission means, but whether there will be any degree of success in this mediation attempt.

A short while ago, Mr. Powell, after he had met with a Palestinian humanitarian group, their representatives, came out with some optimist remarks, but I should say they were only a little bit optimistic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're going to have good conversations, my staff and the Palestinian side today, and I look forward to seeing the chairman tomorrow morning. I think we are making progress and look further in their progress over the next 24 hours. But I don't want to give any specifics as to what (UNINTELLIGIBLE) achieve and are able to achieve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KESSEL: Making some progress, said the secretary of state, but he couldn't say how and in what way that progress would be substantiated in the formulation of any kind of agreement between the two sides. What he did say that it would likely stop short of some kind of formal cease-fire, even if there was progress that yielded success.

Now, he was to have met today both with Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian Authority president, and Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The Sharon meeting goes ahead in a few hours from now. That will be the third time they have met during the Powell mission.

The Yasser Arafat meeting has been postponed until tomorrow. And actually that is seen as something of a positive sign and fitting into that degree of optimism enunciated by Mr. Powell just a few minutes ago, as you heard. And that's because later today, Palestinian negotiators will be meeting with members of Mr. Powell's team to try to conclude and work out the formula in a joint statement that they're hoping will be able to issued tomorrow after that meeting between Mr. Powell and Yasser Arafat at his headquarters in Ramallah.

What we understand from the American side is this will include a denunciation of terror from the Palestinian side, and the key there will be the wording on that, something about the timetable of the Israeli conclusion of this military offensive and the winding down of the reoccupation of Palestinian towns over the last couple of weeks and more, and also perhaps something of a political road map laid down which will give the Palestinians an inkling of where, if they go into negotiations with the Israelis or the two sides get back talking about a settlement, that they have some degree of hope that this can end up with what they hope will be the ultimate objective of a Palestinian state.

All of that tentatively being worked on now between the U.S. and Palestinian negotiators, and that's the key of if they can come up with that formula, what will come out of the meeting tomorrow between Colin Powell and Yasser Arafat -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, I guess a little optimism is better than none anyway. Thank you -- Jerrold Kessel reporting live for us from Jerusalem this morning.

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