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CNN Live Today

Discussion with Amr Moussa

Aired April 10, 2003 - 10:37   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: The U.S. and Britain may be winning cheers from many Iraqis in the streets of Baghdad, but they could face a tougher battle winning over Arabs elsewhere in the Middle East. What is the vision for the future of Iraq, and what role will the Arab world play in that future?
We are joined now by Arab League Secretary General Ambassador Moussa. He is here in New York to meet with his U.N. counterpart, Kofi Annan, and he joins us from the United Nations this morning.

Welcome. Good to have you with us this morning, sir.

AMB. AMR MOUSSA, LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES: Thank you, Paula. Thank you.

ZAHN: First off, are you able to share with us some of what you might be asking for of the secretary general?

MOUSSA: Well, we are going to talk about the future of the region, especially from the standpoint of the security of the region, and also the reconstruction, the role of the Security Council, which has a big question mark on it nowadays.

But the future of Iraq is of great concern for us in the Arab world, as well as in the United Nations itself, which was marginalized in the last phase of this Iraqi episode.

As you see, there is a new page being turned, and but the future is uncertain. The future is very much uncertain, not only in Iraq, but in the whole region. That is the social concern for all of us.

ZAHN: Sir, do you think Syria's next?

MOUSSA: Well, I hope not, and I'm sure that this would be a tall order. It is not a question of taking Arab countries one after the other. The -- what should be next, in fact, is to solve the Palestinian problem and stop the Israeli occupation, not to attack other Arab countries. If there is something serious to be done, it has to be done with Israel. It has to be done to stop the occupation of the Arab lands in Palestine and in other countries in Syria and Lebanon. This is the task that should be met, the that should be shouldered. This is the process that should be followed.

The major problem in the Middle East is the Israeli occupation, is the Arab-Israeli conflict. This has to be dealt with, this has to be catered to, to establish peace. This should have even preceded even Iraq, but now, I believe the next step is to seriously address the Palestinian problem and the situation in the occupied territories.

ZAHN: Sir, you say you hope Syria is not next. And yet, you heard the remarks that Secretary Rumsfeld made about Syria. How did you interpret them?

MOUSSA: Well, I really disapprove of that such insinuations that, well, Syria is next because Syria has done this or that, all claims that nobody is sure of. At the same time, the threats addressed to the Arab world, one country after the other, praises or gives rise to this talk about clash of civilizations and the campaign against religions and against the identity of the region.

This is I believe is very, very serious for the stability, and sometimes you know, if you can swallow one pill, perhaps you can swallow the next. And even the first pill has not been swallowed. And the Arab-Israeli conflict will come again as the main issue, if you don't deal with it in a committed way, in a decisive way.

So I don't know why go to Syria or to any other Arab countries, and what are the accusations exactly? What is the difference? What is the problem? What is the problem that you have, that Mr. Rumsfeld has with Syria or any other Arab country?

ZAHN: Unfortunately, I think you're going to have to take that up with Secretary Rumsfeld, because I can't answer those questions, but a final question to you about your level of confidence that democracy can take root in Iraq. Do you think it will?

MOUSSA: Democracy can take root anywhere. But myself and others, we raise the question, as did we need all that, all this destruction, invasion, presence of hundreds of thousands of soldiers in order to build democracy? Is this the way to build democracy? Is it the must? Was it a must that we do that, that we live with that, that we sustain such a situation of war against an Arab country, with all of the casualties, hundreds on both sides? Is this the way to democracy? I wonder, do you have an answer to that? Can you answer me on that?

ZAHN: You sound pretty pessimistic.

MOUSSA: Oh, yes, I am. Oh, yes, I am.

ZAHN: What is your fear? What is your fear of what's going do happen to this country now?

MOUSSA: Well, my fear is clear. If Mr. Rumsfeld is talking about invading another Arab country, and if others, other high officials, are ignoring the inherent danger of the existence of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the occupation, destruction of the Palestinian lands and Palestinian houses and Palestinian people everyday, if we ignore that and just look elsewhere and try to address other problems that are not proven, we don't know exactly what is this or that high official talking about when it comes to Syria or any other Arab country, but we are all sure that what is going on in the occupied territories is very, very serious. So we don't know what are the priorities. This is reverse priorities, and priorities that militate against stability in the Middle East. That's why we are worried. That's why we are pessimistic.

ZAHN: All right, Mr. Ambassador, we've got to leave it there this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired April 10, 2003 - 10:37   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. and Britain may be winning cheers from many Iraqis in the streets of Baghdad, but they could face a tougher battle winning over Arabs elsewhere in the Middle East. What is the vision for the future of Iraq, and what role will the Arab world play in that future?
We are joined now by Arab League Secretary General Ambassador Moussa. He is here in New York to meet with his U.N. counterpart, Kofi Annan, and he joins us from the United Nations this morning.

Welcome. Good to have you with us this morning, sir.

AMB. AMR MOUSSA, LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES: Thank you, Paula. Thank you.

ZAHN: First off, are you able to share with us some of what you might be asking for of the secretary general?

MOUSSA: Well, we are going to talk about the future of the region, especially from the standpoint of the security of the region, and also the reconstruction, the role of the Security Council, which has a big question mark on it nowadays.

But the future of Iraq is of great concern for us in the Arab world, as well as in the United Nations itself, which was marginalized in the last phase of this Iraqi episode.

As you see, there is a new page being turned, and but the future is uncertain. The future is very much uncertain, not only in Iraq, but in the whole region. That is the social concern for all of us.

ZAHN: Sir, do you think Syria's next?

MOUSSA: Well, I hope not, and I'm sure that this would be a tall order. It is not a question of taking Arab countries one after the other. The -- what should be next, in fact, is to solve the Palestinian problem and stop the Israeli occupation, not to attack other Arab countries. If there is something serious to be done, it has to be done with Israel. It has to be done to stop the occupation of the Arab lands in Palestine and in other countries in Syria and Lebanon. This is the task that should be met, the that should be shouldered. This is the process that should be followed.

The major problem in the Middle East is the Israeli occupation, is the Arab-Israeli conflict. This has to be dealt with, this has to be catered to, to establish peace. This should have even preceded even Iraq, but now, I believe the next step is to seriously address the Palestinian problem and the situation in the occupied territories.

ZAHN: Sir, you say you hope Syria is not next. And yet, you heard the remarks that Secretary Rumsfeld made about Syria. How did you interpret them?

MOUSSA: Well, I really disapprove of that such insinuations that, well, Syria is next because Syria has done this or that, all claims that nobody is sure of. At the same time, the threats addressed to the Arab world, one country after the other, praises or gives rise to this talk about clash of civilizations and the campaign against religions and against the identity of the region.

This is I believe is very, very serious for the stability, and sometimes you know, if you can swallow one pill, perhaps you can swallow the next. And even the first pill has not been swallowed. And the Arab-Israeli conflict will come again as the main issue, if you don't deal with it in a committed way, in a decisive way.

So I don't know why go to Syria or to any other Arab countries, and what are the accusations exactly? What is the difference? What is the problem? What is the problem that you have, that Mr. Rumsfeld has with Syria or any other Arab country?

ZAHN: Unfortunately, I think you're going to have to take that up with Secretary Rumsfeld, because I can't answer those questions, but a final question to you about your level of confidence that democracy can take root in Iraq. Do you think it will?

MOUSSA: Democracy can take root anywhere. But myself and others, we raise the question, as did we need all that, all this destruction, invasion, presence of hundreds of thousands of soldiers in order to build democracy? Is this the way to build democracy? Is it the must? Was it a must that we do that, that we live with that, that we sustain such a situation of war against an Arab country, with all of the casualties, hundreds on both sides? Is this the way to democracy? I wonder, do you have an answer to that? Can you answer me on that?

ZAHN: You sound pretty pessimistic.

MOUSSA: Oh, yes, I am. Oh, yes, I am.

ZAHN: What is your fear? What is your fear of what's going do happen to this country now?

MOUSSA: Well, my fear is clear. If Mr. Rumsfeld is talking about invading another Arab country, and if others, other high officials, are ignoring the inherent danger of the existence of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the occupation, destruction of the Palestinian lands and Palestinian houses and Palestinian people everyday, if we ignore that and just look elsewhere and try to address other problems that are not proven, we don't know exactly what is this or that high official talking about when it comes to Syria or any other Arab country, but we are all sure that what is going on in the occupied territories is very, very serious. So we don't know what are the priorities. This is reverse priorities, and priorities that militate against stability in the Middle East. That's why we are worried. That's why we are pessimistic.

ZAHN: All right, Mr. Ambassador, we've got to leave it there this morning.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com