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Powell Goes to Cairo Before Returning to Washington

Aired April 17, 2002 - 10:01   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: Our very own Wolf Blitzer is in the Middle East. He will have details on Powell's peace mission.

And that's where we begin this morning. Wolf joins us now from Jerusalem -- hello, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Leon. The secretary of state heading off to Cairo for a round of talks with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia before heading back to Washington, but while he was here, he wrapped up his visit with another two-hour meeting with the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, in his military compound, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. The secretary of state and the Palestinian leader, this meeting for the second time since the secretary arrived here in this part of the world last Thursday night arriving in Jerusalem.

Later at a news conference, summing up his 10-day mission to the Middle East, the secretary of state was rather blunt in acknowledging he couldn't achieve a cease-fire. He had some strong words for the Israelis; also some strong words for the Palestinians, specifically he wants Yasser Arafat to back up his commitment to end terrorism with action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Confronting and ending terrorism are indispensable steps on the road to peace. In my meetings with Chairman Arafat, I made it clear that he and the Palestinian Authority can no longer equivocate. They must decide, as the rest of the world has decided, that terrorism must end. Chairman Arafat must take that message to his people. He must follow through with instructions to his security forces. They must act to arrest and prosecute terrorists, disrupt terrorist financing, dismantle terrorist infrastructure and stop incitement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The secretary said he couldn't achieve a cease-fire, because the Israeli pullback from those areas recently reoccupied in the West Bank has not yet been completed. He did say he received a timetable from the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, that it would be completed within the next few days with two exceptions. In Bethlehem the standoff at the Church of the Nativity continues inside, some 200 armed Palestinians, and in Ramallah, the headquarters of Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority.

There are individuals inside that building the Israelis want. They are suspected terrorists. The Israelis want them handed over. The Palestinians say that's not going to happen. As a result, Israeli military personnel remain around Yasser Arafat's compound complete with tanks and armored personnel carriers -- Leon.

HARRIS: Well, Wolf, now Secretary Powell is going to be landing any minute now in Cairo. And while he is there, he is not going to be meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. What of that?

BLITZER: There wasn't really a whole lot to talk about. They had met earlier on the way here to this part of the world. There was simply no grand achievement as far as the Israeli-Palestinian tension is concerned.

There was some achievement involving the tensions along Israel's northern borders with Lebanon and Syria after the secretary was in Beirut and Damascus earlier in the week. There has been five days of calm. No Hezbollah mortars going into a disputed little Israeli- occupied area along the border with Lebanon and Syria, and perhaps that's the significant development, because there could have been potential for a broader war developing between Israel, Lebanon and Syria, if in fact those tensions were to escalate.

But that situation has calmed down a bit. There is no guarantee how long that calm will remain.

The secretary wanted to meet with Hosni Mubarak, but if he had achieved more on the Israeli-Palestinian front, he might have been able to do so. But there really wasn't a whole lot to achieve, and as a result, he is going to meet with the foreign ministers.

HARRIS: Understood. Wolf Blitzer reporting live for us from Jerusalem.

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