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American Morning

Interview with Saeb Erakat, Palestinian Negotiator

Aired May 02, 2002 - 07:11   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: With the Israeli forces gone, Arafat emerged from his compound this morning after a month in virtual captivity. And on the phone with us now from Jericho is the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erakat -- Mr. Erakat, welcome back.

SAEB ERAKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR (by telephone): Thanks, Paula.

ZAHN: I wanted to start off. first of all. with news coming from the Israeli Defense Forces saying it is their belief that the Palestinian gunmen have booby-trapped the Church of the Nativity. Is that true?

ERAKAT: That's absolutely unfounded, and I would really urge immediately the international community to send observers, Americans, British, you, anybody -- anybody of their choice of the Americans or the British to go to the nativity church, because last night, they hit the church with the flares. They burned some parts of the church, and then their spokespersons were saying Palestinians burned the church.

How can Palestinians burn the church while they are inside? And how can Palestinians burn the church while they have 40 priests and nuns, mostly foreigners? And I spoke to many of them who described to me the situation. Now, I believe that such an Israeli line could be the beginning of an introduction to something.

So I think it's critical, and I think it's very important that we dispatch immediately a team of American security experts, of British security experts in order to see to it what is being planned there, because we want to use what happened in Ramallah yesterday, the transfer of these six people to Jericho, Paula, in order to begin a process of de-escalation and a process of de-confliction.

ZAHN: OK. Mr. Erakat, let me come back to something you just said, because I'm not sure exactly what you meant. When you say the IDF is now saying that the Palestinians booby-trapped the church, you just said -- quote -- "That is an Israeli line. It's an introduction to something." What do you mean by that?

ERAKAT: You know, I was told yesterday, and I cannot confirm from Palestinian sources of course, Paula, inside the Church of the Nativity at 2:30 in the morning, who told me that the Israelis attempted to storm the church from the eastern side in the Armenian Church. Now, when the Israelis started to say that we are burning the church, the Palestinians are shooting, intensive firing and all of these things.

And I was begging the mayor yesterday at 2:30 in the morning, in my capacity as a minister of local government, to send the fire department. He was telling me they cannot move, because of the Israeli curfew. The ambulances cannot move because of the Israeli curfew.

And now, when the Israelis come and speak about booby-trap, accusing Palestinians, I am afraid that this could be preparing for something big, storming the church, destroying the church and then blaming it on Palestinians. And this is why I believe since, you know, if it's my word against Netanyahu's word, who was kicked out of office because he had one title, a pathological liar. I urged the United States and the European Union to immediately come and monitor the situation on the nativity church, because I believe something is being planned.

ZAHN: Then, Mr. Erakat, this has nothing to do with the former prime minister, Bibi Netanyahu. Let's review what the Israelis have said so far about what happened there last night.

Military sources say the confrontation began when Palestinian militants inside the compound fired on a nearby building occupied by Israeli troops. They said flares were sent in to illuminate where those gunmen might be, and no one can officially decide when the flames ignited. But they also say that at one point, the Palestinians refused to use fire extinguishers that Palestinian firefighters offered to send in.

ERAKAT: Paula, that's what I mean, a lie. Paula, I begged the mayor yesterday, Mr. Hanna Nasser, to send the fire department. The Palestinian fire department could not move because of the curfew. Anybody who moves will be shot at.

Now, when the Israelis say that Palestinians shot -- we were scheduled to have a meeting at 9:00 this morning with them. We were determined to end the situation today. Why would Palestinians shoot? These people are without water, without drink, without food. We want to end the situation.

Now, if you put my word against theirs, I don't stand a chance in the Congress. I don't stand a chance in the Senate. Look what happened to the fact-finding mission, the commission that's being disbanded by the secretary-general. Isn't disbandment of this commission equivalent to giving Sharon a license to do it again, to commit more massacres, to commit more crimes and to do whatever they want to do in the church, and then accuse Palestinians?

Because, Paula, every Palestinian today, a child, woman, old man, a professor, a doctor, in the eyes of the Israelis a terrorist, condemned until proven dead (ph). And that's why, you know, if you don't see the things in the eyes of Sharon, if you don't hear it in the ears of Sheronski (ph), if you don't speak about it in the mouth of Netanyahu, you become anti-Semite. You will be bombarded in a Mafia-style business of blackmail and extortion. And this is why we need a fair party to help to verify for us. Last night... ZAHN: Mr. Erakat, we unfortunately just have 15 seconds left. There was a report that -- well, actually, this did happen on BBC Radio, one of the heads of Hamas vowed to launch new attacks in coming weeks or days. Mr. Arafat is expected to address his people tomorrow. Will he ask Hamas not to do that?

ERAKAT: Whether President Arafat will take whatever steps are necessary in accordance with our capabilities now, in order to ensure there will be a revival of the peace process that we can resume a meaningful peace process. And I am sure...

ZAHN: Is he capable of stopping Hamas from launching attacks?

ERAKAT: Well, we will exert every possible effort, because we do not condone the killing or attacks on Israeli civilians. President Arafat has condemned so many times the suicide bombings. And now, we are coming out of a situation, Paula, where we have a total destruction of the Palestinian Authority security apparatus and civilian apparatus.

So we need damage assessment. We need the process of rebuilding and reconstructing, because we don't want to pledge to do something and then two weeks from now, you ask me, Paula, you said to me, but you did not deliver. Now, we will do in accordance with our capabilities. Our capabilities have been destroyed and devastated in the last five weeks by Sharon.

ZAHN: All right. We are going to have to leave it there this morning. Saeb Erakat, thank you very much for joining us on AMERICAN MORNING.

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