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Ariel Sharon Was Supposed to Meet with President Today

Aired May 20, 2003 - 08:02   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: Back to the Middle East right now. We know Ariel Sharon was supposed to meet with the president today. That's been canceled given the violence back in the Middle East. President Bush says he is still hopeful the road map to peace will survive despite the fifth suicide bombing in less than 48 hours.
John King back live at the White House this morning.

And the big question today, where does this road map for peace stand right now given the attacks and the canceled meeting as of today?

John, good morning.

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill.

And it is an excellent question. And one of the sub plots of that question is what about the personal diplomacy from President Bush? When will we see that? Mr. Bush promised not that long ago that he would dedicate as much time, as much energy as it takes to get this process back on track. And administration officials had predicted, sadly, just what we are seeing right now, bombings they say are deliberately aimed at derailing these early efforts to get a peace process back into motion.

President Bush was emphatic, waving his arms yesterday, saying he will not be deterred, that he views this as a bump in the road, but that he will press ahead.

Here are the two big questions at the moment -- when can Prime Minister Sharon come and reschedule that meeting here at the White House? Officials say they hope to do that within a matter of days or a week or so. It depends on whether there are more bombings and the prime minister thinks he needs to stay for security reasons.

The bigger question, because it is so related, here at the White House, they say they need proof from the new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas that he can clamp down on these terrorist groups. They say the Israeli government is giving him that chance by not launching an immediate military response to all these bombings in recent days. That is the defining question right now, can Mahmoud Abbas assert himself and take control of security matters and clamp down on these terrorist groups or is he being undermined from within the Palestinian Authority by those who simply do not want him to gain enough power to get into a peace dialogue with the prime minister of Israel and the president of the United States -- Bill. HEMMER: John, we have heard from both sides saying that it is absolutely critical for the White House and this president to be involved in order to move this process forward. If Ariel Sharon's meeting is canceled, how critical is it for him at some point very soon to get to the White House and sit down and talk?

KING: The White House believes it is critical and the Palestinians believe it is critical that Prime Minister Sharon come here because he has voiced skepticism and reluctance about several of the steps in the Bush administration's road map to peace. The Palestinians are looking for this president to prove it when he says he will assert pressure on both side to do what it takes to get into a dialogue.

Prime Minister Sharon has said he wants to renegotiate some of the road map. What President Bush wants is for the prime minister to implement some of the early benchmarks to create an atmosphere of confidence and then they can negotiate over other issues where there might be disagreements between the United States and Israel, or between Israel and the Palestinians.

The president wants to at least take a few steeps toward peace to build confidence that perhaps there's a chance if this dialogue continues. That's what he wants to happen first. To make that happen, he needs to see Prime Minister Sharon face to face.

HEMMER: John King from the White House.

John, thanks for that.

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 May 20, 2003 - 08:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to the Middle East right now. We know Ariel Sharon was supposed to meet with the president today. That's been canceled given the violence back in the Middle East. President Bush says he is still hopeful the road map to peace will survive despite the fifth suicide bombing in less than 48 hours.
John King back live at the White House this morning.

And the big question today, where does this road map for peace stand right now given the attacks and the canceled meeting as of today?

John, good morning.

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill.

And it is an excellent question. And one of the sub plots of that question is what about the personal diplomacy from President Bush? When will we see that? Mr. Bush promised not that long ago that he would dedicate as much time, as much energy as it takes to get this process back on track. And administration officials had predicted, sadly, just what we are seeing right now, bombings they say are deliberately aimed at derailing these early efforts to get a peace process back into motion.

President Bush was emphatic, waving his arms yesterday, saying he will not be deterred, that he views this as a bump in the road, but that he will press ahead.

Here are the two big questions at the moment -- when can Prime Minister Sharon come and reschedule that meeting here at the White House? Officials say they hope to do that within a matter of days or a week or so. It depends on whether there are more bombings and the prime minister thinks he needs to stay for security reasons.

The bigger question, because it is so related, here at the White House, they say they need proof from the new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas that he can clamp down on these terrorist groups. They say the Israeli government is giving him that chance by not launching an immediate military response to all these bombings in recent days. That is the defining question right now, can Mahmoud Abbas assert himself and take control of security matters and clamp down on these terrorist groups or is he being undermined from within the Palestinian Authority by those who simply do not want him to gain enough power to get into a peace dialogue with the prime minister of Israel and the president of the United States -- Bill. HEMMER: John, we have heard from both sides saying that it is absolutely critical for the White House and this president to be involved in order to move this process forward. If Ariel Sharon's meeting is canceled, how critical is it for him at some point very soon to get to the White House and sit down and talk?

KING: The White House believes it is critical and the Palestinians believe it is critical that Prime Minister Sharon come here because he has voiced skepticism and reluctance about several of the steps in the Bush administration's road map to peace. The Palestinians are looking for this president to prove it when he says he will assert pressure on both side to do what it takes to get into a dialogue.

Prime Minister Sharon has said he wants to renegotiate some of the road map. What President Bush wants is for the prime minister to implement some of the early benchmarks to create an atmosphere of confidence and then they can negotiate over other issues where there might be disagreements between the United States and Israel, or between Israel and the Palestinians.

The president wants to at least take a few steeps toward peace to build confidence that perhaps there's a chance if this dialogue continues. That's what he wants to happen first. To make that happen, he needs to see Prime Minister Sharon face to face.

HEMMER: John King from the White House.

John, thanks for that.

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