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Conflict in the Middle East: Secretary Powell to Return to U.S.

Aired April 17, 2002 - 12:30   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of State Powell is heading home from the Middle East. We just told you that. And the Bush administration says that Powell's efforts yielded progress toward peace. But as Powell leaves, the situation appears little changed from the day he arrived, and many Arab leaders are calling the trip a failure.

CNN's Bill Hemmer is standing by in Jerusalem. What's the latest from there, Bill?

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Kyra, good evening from Jerusalem. Nine days throughout the entire region, as you mentioned, Colin Powell has now left the region. He left Cairo, Egypt a short time ago, no cease-fire. In fact, earlier today, the secretary of state indicated that talk of a cease-fire right now was simply irrelevant, given the conditions on the ground.

However, Secretary Powell did say that he has a clear vision for peace right now throughout the Middle East. He had two messages today. To the Israelis: end the incursions and work towards the ending of the occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. To the Palestinians, he says end the terror. In fact, he was at a meeting earlier today in Ramallah, his second and final meeting the chairman, Chairman Yasser Arafat, in that besieged compound. Afterwards, Secretary Powell, not too many words. He did brief reporters shortly after that.

Yasser Arafat, meanwhile, talked with reporters inside that compound. He was visibly angry when he did meet with reporters. We will hear from Chairman Arafat in a few moments here. Meanwhile, off to Cairo, Egypt. That was the last stop, Kyra, on this Middle East tour. In fact, that visit has been wrapped up now. A short time ago, Secretary Powell left Cairo bound for Washington D.C. He will land either late on Wednesday or early Thursday morning back in D.C. after he met with several foreign ministers from the region there in Cairo, Egypt.

Now we talked about the negative side of this trip. Let's talk about the positive. The pluses we are hearing from the Israeli side, about 24 hours ago they indicated that that trip to Damascus for Secretary Powell on Monday brought huge dividends apparently on that cross-border conflict. They are indicating right now that the Hezbollah positions have actually pulled back some as a result of the visit to Damascus and Beirut prior to that on Monday.

The other plus that people continue to talk about is the idea about an international regional conference that may take place in about two months' time. In fact, the prime minister, Ariel Sharon, said that maybe in June, maybe in the United States. Now it is clear, we are a long way from finalizing any sort of conference there. Israel has said it does not want to deal with Yasser Arafat. The Palestinians have said that Arafat is the only address within the Palestinian world. However, they are talking about it. At this point, with all the conflict on the ground, just talk appears to be somewhat of a silver lining,

President Bush, you mentioned, was speaking earlier today at VMI in Virginia. Let's get to the White House right now and more on this stiff and stern message that the president had earlier today. For that, here's Kelly Wallace with us this afternoon from the frontline. Kelly, good afternoon.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Bill. You know, President Bush and his top aides also trying to emphasize the positive they are seeing from Secretary Powell's mission. President Bush, just a short time ago, telling an audience in Virginia that the secretary made progress towards peace.

Now, Mr. Bush arrived at Andrew's Air Force Base just a short time ago. He will be back in the White House about fifteen minutes from now. There you see, though, there you see the president at Andrew's Air Force Base. The main focus for the president today, a speech at the Virginia Military Institute. There, he was giving a war update, really kind of giving an update on where this war on terrorism stands. A lot of focus, though, on how the president would address the Middle East. He has not talked about it publicly in more than a week. He has also faced a lot of criticism of how his Middle East policies square with his own so-called Bush doctrine, that you are either with the U.S. in the war on terror or you're against the U.S.

And so the president, in his message there, saying all parties, the Palestinians, the Israelis and the Arab states have obligations in this war on terror.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Palestinian authority must act, must act, on its words of condemnation against terror.

(APPLAUSE)

Israel must continue its withdrawals, and all Arab states must step up to their responsibilities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And, Bill, the president directing that last line to the Palestinians, also to the Egyptians, the Jordanians and the Saudi Arabians, saying, quote, "all parties must say clearly that a murderer is not a martyr. He or she is just a murderer." Bill, back to you.

HEMMER: Kelly, worth underlining right now again, the White House is fully entrenched in the Middle East matter right now. William Burns, assistant secretary of state will stay here. Anthony Zinni will be back in a matter of days. The CIA director, George Tenet, may come back at some time very soon. And also, there was talk, perhaps another visit by Secretary Powell. Are you getting a better vision on when Secretary Powell may make a return trip for more meetings here?

WALLACE: Not exactly clear. Really, the next step, we are told by senior administration officials, is for Secretary Powell to get back here in Washington and have face to face briefings with the president, with the national security adviser and other top officials here, brief them fully on what was accomplished, what was not, on his meetings with Chairman Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Clearly, Secretary Powell putting out there the possibility of George Tenet going to the region, and that Anthony Zinni, the U.S. envoy, and the Assistant Secretary Burns will be in the region. The message we are getting from senior officials is the administration will remain deeply engaged. But clearly, they must decide the next step, though Secretary Powell will come back here and determine exactly where this administration goes from here after Secretary Powell returns without a cease-fire. But clearly, the administration is trying to stress the positives, saying he was able to diffuse situation and possibly, as you said, get the two sides talking to each other again -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right. Kelly, thanks. Kelly Wallace from the White House.

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