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CNN Live Today
Interview With Hanna Nasser, Mayor of Bethlehem
Aired May 02, 2002 - 13:47 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: Once again, going to try this once again for you. Our apologies. Back to Walt Rodgers now in Bethlehem, standing by with the mayor. Walt, good evening again. This is live TV.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill. We lost our satellite. We are back up.
Joining us now is the mayor of Bethlehem, this sorry and somewhat besieged city, Hanna Nasser. Mayor Nasser, I'd like to begin by asking you: The Israelis say there are between 25 to 30 hard-core Palestinian fighters inside the Church of the Nativity. How can this crisis be resolved, the standoff between Israel and the Palestinians?
HANNA NASSER, MAYOR OF BETHLEHEM: When we met the Israeli officers, and our first meeting, and when we asked them, how many are there that you are looking for, they said they are 2 percent of those who are inside the Church of Nativity, and then said there are 5; in third meeting, there are 7. And it is no secret that this has been on the front page of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- everybody knows these people that they are wanted by the IDF.
RODGERS: But how do we end the standoff down the street?
NASSER: You know, I don't think that meeting the Israelis so far has made any progress, and I don't think we will succeed in reaching any solution to this tragedy in the Church of Nativity.
I think the only way do it is to follow the recent president that we had in Ramallah -- I'm talking according to what happened, and dealing with principles, not details, although the thing in Ramallah and in Bethlehem is completely different, because those who are inside the church still are not accused, they have not been sentenced, they don't have any verdict.
And I think the only way to do it and the quickest way to do it and the most peaceful way to do it is to send those accused people to Jericho. They will stand for trial in Jericho, and then if somebody is guilty, he will be turned over to the custody of the American and British in Jericho.
RODGERS: Yasser Arafat holds the key. Would he agree to that? He certainly agreed to it in Ramallah. Would he do it here, end this siege? NASSER: Well, President Arafat, I have been talking to him. And he is very keen, very committed to solve this problem as quick as possible, and I don't think President Arafat will reject this idea.
RODGERS: Why did President Arafat say that it was the Israelis that started the fire in the Church of the Nativity the previous night? How did he know?
NASSER: Well, President Arafat is not at the scene here. I mean, of course he is...
RODGERS: So how could he make that accusation?
NASSER: You know, because the quantity of bullets that have been -- I mean, shot at the Church of the Nativity, and I have seen this morning somebody who have witnessed this. If you go and see the wall of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE), how many bullets there are in the stones of this wall, you can imagine how the fight was so strong. And we have to be very, very, I mean, reasonable. What we have been hearing last night, it couldn't be, I mean, from the Palestinians alone.
RODGERS: How seriously is the church damaged?
NASSER: You know, in principle, besieging the church by itself is a big damage to the church.
RODGERS: I understand. But that's psychological. I'm asking about the damage from the fire.
NASSER: The damage? There is real damage in the Franciscan side, real damage in the dormitory of the Greek Orthodox Church, damage in the statues of the church, damage in the mosaics inside the church by these bullets that have penetrated into the Church of Nativity.
And I hope the day will come when we can go together and see how much the Church of Nativity has been damaged.
RODGERS: Mayor Nasser, thank you very much.
Bill, we have been talking with Mayor Hanna Nasser of Bethlehem. He tells us there is considerable damage inside the Church of the Nativity, both to the areas where the fires were the previous night, and to the inside of the knave itself, to the frescoes, the priceless old frescoes, and the icons and some of the statues there -- Bill.
HEMMER: Walter, thank you. Walter Rodgers, reporting live ion Bethlehem, thanks for hanging with us in order for us to reestablish that satellite signal.
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