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CNN Live Today
Deal Struck to End Siege of Arafat Compound
Aired May 01, 2002 - 12:02 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We mentioned the Middle East. We will keep a firm eye on that all afternoon today, and again, all signs indicating the long confinement of Yasser Arafat is coming to an end.
Hours ago, a deal was struck, and at last word, final details being resolved between the two sides.
We have not seen Yasser Arafat yet, but Matthew Chance is keeping a very close eye live in Ramallah, where it's just about 7:00 in the evening there -- Matthew, good evening.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening to you, Bill, as well.
We do have confirmation from both the Israeli side and the Palestinian side that a deal has indeed been indeed struck to end this siege around Yasser Arafat's very battered presidential compound here in Ramallah.
We are just panning off now to show you exactly what our vantage point looks like from the top of this building. We are looking down upon the compound itself. You can see there the wall, which has been partially destroyed by Israeli tanks, Israeli security forces in the intervening weeks of this heavy siege since the end of March around the battered compound.
Let's pan over now to the building where Yasser Arafat, we believe, is housed himself. You may be able to make up there, there is a wind sock flying on top of that building. You may be able to make out bullet holes around the window, evidence again of the heavy clashes that took place between Palestinians inside and Israeli Security Forces when they moved on that compound at the end of March.
It is that building in which we believe that Yasser Arafat is currently located in which we believe that the meetings between Palestinian officials and security experts from Britain and the United States, which ended within the last few hours, took place. Israel has been keen to a guarantee, of course, that if it gives the order for its troops to leave this compound, the six wanted Palestinians holed up alongside a lot of other people and Yasser Arafat inside that compound will not be allowed to simply walk free.
The Palestinians for their part, it wanted guarantees of the security for these prisoners, once they are placed under international guard in accordance with the U.S. plan.
Israel Radio has been reporting that there is some kind of hitch in the negotiations. We have spoken to Palestinian officials though. They say that everything is going according to plan, although I have to say to it has been some time now, about an hour or two, since we were expecting these prisoners to be transferred to the West Bank town of Jericho, where they are to be held in a Palestinian prison.
Obviously, there is some delay. We don't know at this stage though what the delay is. When it happens, we hope that convoy will move its way down towards us and drive right passed us here on the way to Jericho. So we are at a good vantage point to bring you those developments -- Bill.
HEMMER: And, Matthew, of the six we are talking about here, there are reports that the Palestinians are only willing to turn over four of the six. Is it possible that might be the hold up? And do you know or you have gotten any record as to whether or not the entire six were said to be involved in here?
CHANCE: Yes. I mean I heard these are the reports filtering out of that compound now. We can't confirm them.
What I can tell you though is that throughout the time that I have been here and speaking to Palestinian officials, we have been talking about the six. Four of them have been already convicted, of course, by a makeshift Palestinian court convicted of involvement in of killing Israel's tourism minister of last October. Another one of the other two, one of them is one of the people involved in an arms smuggling deal that was cracked open by the Israeli authorities involving a ship earlier in the year. The other one, the sixth person is a very contentious political figure, head of the political party, the PFLP, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
All along, Palestinian authorities have been resisting to handing him over. We understood that he would be a part -- along with the alleged arms smuggler, he would be part along with the four who killed the Israeli tourism minister. We will just have to see what developments emerge when we get better information on that, Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Matthew, fair deal -- Matthew Chance live in Ramallah. We will be standing by over the next several hours if indeed that's what it takes there.
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