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CNN Live Today

White House Keeping Eye on Middle East Crisis

Aired April 29, 2002 - 14:11   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: No question, the White House keeping close eye on developments in the Middle East. While on a visit to Albuquerque, New Mexico today, the president was speaking. Now onward to L.A. a bit later. Let's check in with our senior White House correspondent John King, once again with the president. He joins us live from Albuquerque with more from there.

Hey, John, good afternoon again.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon again to you, too, Bill.

Keeping track of developments and hoping this breakthrough in Ramallah and the progress being reported in the negotiations in Bethlehem turn into future steps in the hours and days ahead.

President Bush just now wrapping up his attendance here at a $500,000 Republican fund-raiser. Just a bit earlier here in Albuquerque he attended events at which he promised the administration would take steps over the next several months to address what many mental health advocates call a discrepancy, an imbalance, in health insurance coverage; Mr. Bush saying there should be no stigma for mental health and people should be able to get health coverage for those disorders just like they can for physical ailments.

But he has been briefed, as he travels, on continuing developments in the Middle East.

Jerrold Kessel just noted the Sharon meeting at the White House a little more than week from now. The White House hoping by then that there is enough progress and enough calm, that is just as important, to sit down with P.M. Sharon and begin to discuss what next -- can we get to some sort of a peace conference. Can we implement other security measures on the ground to build confidence and hopefully trust back again between the Israelis and the Palestinian.

Not a great sense of optimism in the White House. They want to take this one step at a time. The White House press secretary, Ari Fleischer, telling reporters this morning, the president understands progress comes very slowly in the Middle East. But they are hoping to build some hope and some optimism from this breakthrough in Ramallah.

Also hoping the president's meeting with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and his discussions with other Arab leaders of late will provide more of a platform, if you will, a broader base, as the president tries to advance a political dialogue.

But make no mistake. First and foremost the priority is implementing that Ramallah agreement, getting those suspects under United States and British supervision and then testing whether you can make further progress -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, John you bring up a lot of good points. Let's shake them down now with Shibley Telhami, the Anwar Sadat professor for peace and development at the University of Maryland. He is our guest now from Washington, D.C.

Professor. Good afternoon. Good to see you, again.

SHIBLEY TELHAMI, U. OF MARYLAND: good afternoon.

HEMMER: What do you make -- let's just peg this, based on what John King was just reporting. The crown prince extends his stay. Ariel Sharon will come to Washington, possibly within two weeks' time. What is your take on what's happening behind the scenes in these diplomatic meetings?

TELHAMI: Well, first, there's no question that the Saudis, and really all Arab leaders, have decided that Arab-Israeli peacemaking, especially Palestinian-Israeli peacemaking, is a top priority for them.

Their pushed to the limit by their public opinion at the very same time that they want to from protect their relations with the United States, and that is why it's such a central issue for them and they're willing to work on it, including the Saudis, feel the heat. Both of the public and the United States at the same time.

Nonetheless, it is clear that it is going to be a very tough battle. Because it is not just a question of incremental steps of the sort that we've seen so far in the deal over Ramallah. The question is whether there'll be a strategic shift.

If these steps are merely tactical instruments to respond to this pressure or that in the short term, you're not likely to see progress.

It is going to be very, very difficult for the next two weeks for the president to decide how to proceed. Because on the one hand, he is going to hear from the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and other Arab leaders that the United States must make this issue a priority in its foreign policy.

On the other hand, the prime minister of Israel is going to want to have a free hand, as much as he can, in the pursuit of what he sees as his own war in the West Bank.

And so it's going to be very tough indeed.

HEMMER: Professor, let me get back to the foreign policy issue in a second here. But more to the point, with Ariel Sharon physically coming to Washington, D.C., it appears to me on the outside that clearly President Bush has something he wants to share with him face- to-face, and in all likelihood it is based on the talks that took place in Crawford, Texas with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.

TELHAMI: Well, there are actually two things here.

One is that it is hard for the prime minister to come here without having already responded to the president's call for withdrawing from all the cities. So the timing itself puts additional pressure on him to complete his withdrawal.

But the second thing is to put something on the table, no question, and there is the Saudi proposal. The interesting thing is that the Saudis put forth, in addition to their plan that was supported by other Arab states at the Arab summit, they put forth a relatively practical plan.

Many of the points that they have proposed already accepted by the United States. There is one very important point that the United States hasn't yet accepted, and that is the stationing of international forces.

It is clear this will be the basis of talks with the prime minister of Israel when he visits Washington.

HEMMER: Back to your foreign policy point. Go ahead and make it now, because at this point, it does appear that there is some movement, and the foreign policy point I would like to pursue is this: what are you hearing in the Arab world right now? Knowing the United States seem to be well-engaged in this, coming off the Colin Powell visit, Dick Cheney prior to that. But knowing that the United States right now is trying to have a significant breakthrough, when it comes to Ramallah, and the efforts that continue in Bethlehem?

Is there any sense that perception is changing, that would show that the United States indeed is taking up somewhat the Palestinian cause?

TELHAMI: Well, you know, if you read the sentiment, at least in the media and at the public level, that public is incredibly suspicious. They have no faith in the maneuvering. There is so much concern about what they consider to be processed rather than actual progress on the ground.

HEMMER: Now, are you talking about Palestinian reaction or Arab creation in general?

TELHAMI: I think Arab reaction in general. If you watch the Arab media, particularly the transnational media, the pan-Arab media, such as Al-Jazeera and others, which are broadcast also on the Web, by the way, you can watch them even from the United States -- what you get a sense of is that by both the analyst and the people who call in, a lot of suspicion.

Clearly there are people who are interested in showing this as progress and those are usually the governments themselves and those elites around them, who desperately want to see a political option. Because they're frightened by the prospect of escalation. It's going to come back to haunt them at home. Every government in the region is worried about it, but the public is very suspicious.

HEMMER: And one more point to get to -- there has not been a significant suicide bombing or explosion, I think in about two weeks' time. I'm not quite secure, I'd have to check the calendar to be precise.

There was this attack on a Jewish settlement near Hebron over the weekend, which was clearly a devastating scene of horror there for a family that was killed, essentially shot in their beds.

What does it tell you about the fact that we have not seen this suicide bombing violence inside Israel?

TELHAMI: Well, there's no question that the operation by the Israeli government has disrupted some of them, undoubtedly.

Whether there is also some political calculations, and at the moment there probably are also some political calculations by some of the groups. But I don't think this an indication of what's likely to happen, unfortunately.

I think there is -- you know the propensity for revenge is going to be very widespread. You know that Arafat's own ability to have full control over it has been diminished remarkably.

And I think the problem that -- what I'm worried about right now is that there's this expectation that somehow this is going to end when we start a political process. And then if we have an unfortunately round of suicide bombing, and obviously we all pray and hope that that wouldn't happen, but they could and they're likely. Then we say, well we've tried. It's over. Or then you blame it all on Arafat, or even on the president of the United States for having asked Mr. Sharon to end it sooner than he wanted.

This is what I worry about, sort of creating a real link between the process itself and the complete end of these operations, which will take time and it takes a lot more progress in the political arena than we have seen so far.

HEMMER: Professor, thank. We could go on and on, and we will another time. OK. Shibley Telhami, a professor there in D.C. Thank you sir, we'll talk to you again.

TELHAMI: Pleasure.

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