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CNN Live At Daybreak
Hamas Halts Talks With Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas
Aired June 06, 2003 - 06:06 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 about the Middle East now, because we gave that new information to you about 40 minutes ago. There is a bump in the road map to peace. The Islamic militant group Hamas is halting its talks with the Palestinian prime minister.
Let's go to Jerusalem live and Jerrold Kessel.
Good morning -- Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Maybe even more than a bump, maybe a really sizable obstacle on that road to peace. A couple of days ago, it was all about those spirited commitments, spirited talk of ending the battle between Israelis and Palestinians at the summit down in Aqaba presided over by President Bush. Yesterday, doubts were beginning to seep in and now really these obstacles emerging.
But the big one in the form of this opposition from the leading Islamic military group, Hamas, which has declared in interviews by one of its leading spokesmen, Aziz Rantissi, saying that Hamas is cutting off all contacts with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, who was due to have met him this weekend to try to get agreement on the curbing of their activities, a cease-fire in their activities and actions against Israel.
But now, Hamas saying all he wants to do, Mahmoud Abbas, is impose a dictate on us, not to get an agreement. There are no more contacts; we have broken off all contact, say Hamas.
Now, in addition to that, they've issued a leaflet, and we have a copy, in fact, a copy of that two-page leaflet put out by the Hamas, the Islamic resistance movement. Hamas down in Gaza saying that in this two-page leaflet it has put out, saying Mr. Abbas accepted unacceptable conditions at that Aqaba summit. The Aqaba summit tried to impose -- tried to impose a dictate, in the words of this leaflet, from the United States, particularly the ending of the armed struggle, says Hamas; this is not acceptable.
And it calls in the leaflet for the Palestinian people as a whole and for the entire Arab world to reject what was accepted or what was pronounced both at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit by the Arab leaders, allies of the United States, and at that Aqaba summit by Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas for the ending -- or the attempt to end the armed struggle against Israel. This is unacceptable, says Hamas, and it is cutting off its contacts with the Palestinian Authority about getting an agreement. A serious development for the would-be peacemakers -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I was just going to say it is a serious development, and you have to wonder what this will do to that peace plan now.
KESSEL: It is, unless Mahmoud Abbas is able to find a way out of arguing Hamas out of their position, or if he's not willing to do that, if he wants to take them on and curb them, this could be a major development. Because without a firm curb on the Palestinian militant groups really -- and President Bush laid that down as much as he was putting pressure on Israel's prime minister -- if that doesn't happen, if terror isn't ended, then the peace process, as it was inaugurated in such style almost down in Aqaba, really will be going nowhere.
It might have been that this was a tactical approach by Hamas, but the issuing of such a strongly-worded leaflet suggest that they are taking a strategic position in opposition to that of the Palestinian prime minister, and that does represent a very serious roadblock if it emerges, and it is such a determined strategic stance by the militant Islamic group -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Jerrold Kessel live from Jerusalem 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 June 6, 2003 - 06:06 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 about the Middle East now, because we gave that new information to you about 40 minutes ago. There is a bump in the road map to peace. The Islamic militant group Hamas is halting its talks with the Palestinian prime minister.
Let's go to Jerusalem live and Jerrold Kessel.
Good morning -- Jerrold.
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Maybe even more than a bump, maybe a really sizable obstacle on that road to peace. A couple of days ago, it was all about those spirited commitments, spirited talk of ending the battle between Israelis and Palestinians at the summit down in Aqaba presided over by President Bush. Yesterday, doubts were beginning to seep in and now really these obstacles emerging.
But the big one in the form of this opposition from the leading Islamic military group, Hamas, which has declared in interviews by one of its leading spokesmen, Aziz Rantissi, saying that Hamas is cutting off all contacts with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, who was due to have met him this weekend to try to get agreement on the curbing of their activities, a cease-fire in their activities and actions against Israel.
But now, Hamas saying all he wants to do, Mahmoud Abbas, is impose a dictate on us, not to get an agreement. There are no more contacts; we have broken off all contact, say Hamas.
Now, in addition to that, they've issued a leaflet, and we have a copy, in fact, a copy of that two-page leaflet put out by the Hamas, the Islamic resistance movement. Hamas down in Gaza saying that in this two-page leaflet it has put out, saying Mr. Abbas accepted unacceptable conditions at that Aqaba summit. The Aqaba summit tried to impose -- tried to impose a dictate, in the words of this leaflet, from the United States, particularly the ending of the armed struggle, says Hamas; this is not acceptable.
And it calls in the leaflet for the Palestinian people as a whole and for the entire Arab world to reject what was accepted or what was pronounced both at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit by the Arab leaders, allies of the United States, and at that Aqaba summit by Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas for the ending -- or the attempt to end the armed struggle against Israel. This is unacceptable, says Hamas, and it is cutting off its contacts with the Palestinian Authority about getting an agreement. A serious development for the would-be peacemakers -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I was just going to say it is a serious development, and you have to wonder what this will do to that peace plan now.
KESSEL: It is, unless Mahmoud Abbas is able to find a way out of arguing Hamas out of their position, or if he's not willing to do that, if he wants to take them on and curb them, this could be a major development. Because without a firm curb on the Palestinian militant groups really -- and President Bush laid that down as much as he was putting pressure on Israel's prime minister -- if that doesn't happen, if terror isn't ended, then the peace process, as it was inaugurated in such style almost down in Aqaba, really will be going nowhere.
It might have been that this was a tactical approach by Hamas, but the issuing of such a strongly-worded leaflet suggest that they are taking a strategic position in opposition to that of the Palestinian prime minister, and that does represent a very serious roadblock if it emerges, and it is such a determined strategic stance by the militant Islamic group -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Jerrold Kessel live from Jerusalem 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.
