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CNN Live At Daybreak
Powell Plans to Visit Syria Soon
Aired April 21, 2003 - 05:03 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of State Colin Powell plans to visit Syria soon amidst signs of cooperation against Saddam Hussein's regime.
CNN's Tim Lister looks at what that cooperation may bring the Syrians.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a visit to troops at Fort Hood, Texas Sunday, President Bush suggested that Syria is heeding the tough talk from Washington.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're getting the message that they should not harbor Baath Party officials, high ranking Iraqi officials.
LISTER: A U.S. congressman who visited President Bashar al-Assad Sunday said he also found the Syrian leader in a cooperative mood.
REP. DARREL ISSA (R-CA), INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE: We asked for and got two assurances. One is that he would not grant asylum to any Iraqi war criminal of any sort. And he went on to say not just the deck of 55, but any. And secondly, that, in fact, he would expel any that he would find in the country.
LISTER: Some hope that President Assad can be coaxed into a more productive long-term relationship with the United States.
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: I think it's time for us, through very aggressive diplomacy, to convince the Syrians to join us, to come to our side and to open up a new chapter in Syrian- American relations, where economic assistance and business investment would be greater than it's been before. And the beneficiaries of that, of course, would be the Syrian people.
LISTER: Another visitor to Damascus Sunday, President Mubarak of Egypt, as apprehensive Arab governments scramble to gauge American intentions in Iraq and beyond.
MAMOUN FANDY, MIDDLE EAST SCHOLAR: There is a general atmosphere of nervousness and ambivalence about what will come and what is the ripple effect on them. There is a general, also, consensus that there is a domino effect in terms of democratization, as well as also in terms of who is next in terms of the U.S. agenda and U.S. attacks on the region. And the Syrians are particularly nervous.
LISTER: The Arab world, even Washington's allies in the region, are closing ranks with Syria.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We utterly reject any accusations and threats against Syria because it will lead to a vicious circle of war and turmoil.
LISTER: In the new landscape of the Middle East, Arab governments are wary of an over bearing U.S. presence. They want American troops out of Iraq as soon as possible. Assurances that Washington has no plans to remake the region in its image and above all, a peace dividend in the shape of the promised progress towards an independent Palestine.
Tim Lister, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 21, 2003 - 05:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of State Colin Powell plans to visit Syria soon amidst signs of cooperation against Saddam Hussein's regime.
CNN's Tim Lister looks at what that cooperation may bring the Syrians.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a visit to troops at Fort Hood, Texas Sunday, President Bush suggested that Syria is heeding the tough talk from Washington.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're getting the message that they should not harbor Baath Party officials, high ranking Iraqi officials.
LISTER: A U.S. congressman who visited President Bashar al-Assad Sunday said he also found the Syrian leader in a cooperative mood.
REP. DARREL ISSA (R-CA), INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE: We asked for and got two assurances. One is that he would not grant asylum to any Iraqi war criminal of any sort. And he went on to say not just the deck of 55, but any. And secondly, that, in fact, he would expel any that he would find in the country.
LISTER: Some hope that President Assad can be coaxed into a more productive long-term relationship with the United States.
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: I think it's time for us, through very aggressive diplomacy, to convince the Syrians to join us, to come to our side and to open up a new chapter in Syrian- American relations, where economic assistance and business investment would be greater than it's been before. And the beneficiaries of that, of course, would be the Syrian people.
LISTER: Another visitor to Damascus Sunday, President Mubarak of Egypt, as apprehensive Arab governments scramble to gauge American intentions in Iraq and beyond.
MAMOUN FANDY, MIDDLE EAST SCHOLAR: There is a general atmosphere of nervousness and ambivalence about what will come and what is the ripple effect on them. There is a general, also, consensus that there is a domino effect in terms of democratization, as well as also in terms of who is next in terms of the U.S. agenda and U.S. attacks on the region. And the Syrians are particularly nervous.
LISTER: The Arab world, even Washington's allies in the region, are closing ranks with Syria.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We utterly reject any accusations and threats against Syria because it will lead to a vicious circle of war and turmoil.
LISTER: In the new landscape of the Middle East, Arab governments are wary of an over bearing U.S. presence. They want American troops out of Iraq as soon as possible. Assurances that Washington has no plans to remake the region in its image and above all, a peace dividend in the shape of the promised progress towards an independent Palestine.
Tim Lister, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
