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CNN Live At Daybreak

Colin Powell's Trip

Aired May 05, 2003 - 06:10   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: Let's talk a little bit about weapons of mass destruction. Secretary of State Colin Powell says he is sure Iraq has such weapons and the evidence will be forthcoming. Powell, as you know, was just back from a trip to Europe and the Middle East.
For more on that visit, our State Department correspondent Elise Labott joins us for a "Wake-Up Call."

Good morning -- Elise.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Good morning -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So is Colin Powell determined that his trip over there was a success?

LABOTT: Well during his meetings with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, apparently the president told Powell his government is taking actions to close the offices of several terrorist groups in Syria. Powell says the U.S. wants all of the groups closed, wants those offices closed permanently. And he made clear he's not going to take the Syrian president at his word this time.

The last time Powell was in Syria last year, President Bashar promised to stop the illegal flow of oil into Syria from that pipeline between the two countries and he didn't. So the secretary says this time he's going to judge President Bashar by his actions.

And Secretary Powell is expected back in the region as early as this week to meet with the Israelis and Palestinians, other key Arab allies, to discuss that newly released road map to peace. And this will be his first meeting with Mahmoud Abbas in his post as prime minister -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Should be interesting. You know one of the things that the U.S. government wants Syria to do is stop his support of terrorist groups. But Hezbollah, many locals in that part of the world like Hezbollah because it keeps order.

LABOTT: Well, Carol, it's going to be a huge challenge in some countries to stop support for those groups. Groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, in particular, are seen by many in the Arab world as waging a legitimate resistance to what they call an illegal Israeli occupation of Arab land. And there have been some movements to strike cease-fires with these groups but never took hold. And the political wings of these groups provide social services such as hospitals, schools for the poor, desperately needed services, which, in some cases, the government has been unable to provide. And that's a major reason for their popularity.

Carol, what's really interesting is that the U.S. talks a lot about democracy in the region. But if you had democratic elections in many of these countries today, you could find these groups winning substantial support in political parties because of the message of resistance against Israel they preach and because of that social work that they do.

COSTELLO: Yes, you can see what a dilemma that might pose to the U.S. government. It's an effort to get Syria to stop doing what it wants to do.

Elise Labott, thanks for waking up early with DAYBREAK.

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






Aired May 5, 2003 - 06:10   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk a little bit about weapons of mass destruction. Secretary of State Colin Powell says he is sure Iraq has such weapons and the evidence will be forthcoming. Powell, as you know, was just back from a trip to Europe and the Middle East.
For more on that visit, our State Department correspondent Elise Labott joins us for a "Wake-Up Call."

Good morning -- Elise.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Good morning -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So is Colin Powell determined that his trip over there was a success?

LABOTT: Well during his meetings with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, apparently the president told Powell his government is taking actions to close the offices of several terrorist groups in Syria. Powell says the U.S. wants all of the groups closed, wants those offices closed permanently. And he made clear he's not going to take the Syrian president at his word this time.

The last time Powell was in Syria last year, President Bashar promised to stop the illegal flow of oil into Syria from that pipeline between the two countries and he didn't. So the secretary says this time he's going to judge President Bashar by his actions.

And Secretary Powell is expected back in the region as early as this week to meet with the Israelis and Palestinians, other key Arab allies, to discuss that newly released road map to peace. And this will be his first meeting with Mahmoud Abbas in his post as prime minister -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Should be interesting. You know one of the things that the U.S. government wants Syria to do is stop his support of terrorist groups. But Hezbollah, many locals in that part of the world like Hezbollah because it keeps order.

LABOTT: Well, Carol, it's going to be a huge challenge in some countries to stop support for those groups. Groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, in particular, are seen by many in the Arab world as waging a legitimate resistance to what they call an illegal Israeli occupation of Arab land. And there have been some movements to strike cease-fires with these groups but never took hold. And the political wings of these groups provide social services such as hospitals, schools for the poor, desperately needed services, which, in some cases, the government has been unable to provide. And that's a major reason for their popularity.

Carol, what's really interesting is that the U.S. talks a lot about democracy in the region. But if you had democratic elections in many of these countries today, you could find these groups winning substantial support in political parties because of the message of resistance against Israel they preach and because of that social work that they do.

COSTELLO: Yes, you can see what a dilemma that might pose to the U.S. government. It's an effort to get Syria to stop doing what it wants to do.

Elise Labott, thanks for waking up early with DAYBREAK.

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