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CNN Live At Daybreak
Road Map to Peace Tattered and Torn
Aired August 20, 2003 - 05:09 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: To that suicide bombing in Jerusalem now, the weeks old truce in the region has been dealt a serious blow. The road map to peace is tattered and torn.
Let's take you live to Jerusalem and Jerrold Kessel, who is outside the offices of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon -- and, Jerrold, everybody's wondering what will Israel do?
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, the big question that we are waiting to hear whether the Israelis will even announce or whether they will just do or make do with announcing what they want the Palestinians to do. This as Israel begins the burying of the dead from last night's attack. The funerals will begin this afternoon for the 20 people who were killed. There are over 50 who are still in hospital, a number of them, Carol, are still in serious condition, two reported to be in very serious condition.
There were a number of children among the dead and many among the wounded, as that Number 2 bus headed from the Western Wall, the holy shrine for Jews here in Jerusalem, to the ultra religious neighborhoods of the city. But it's here over the last two and a half hours, here outside the prime minister's office, if we push our camera in, you can see some of the cars down there outside Prime Minister Sharon's office. Top security consultations went on for about two and a half hours. We understand, we've had word from inside that those consultations have come to an end -- coming to an end. Some of the cars have driven away, others about to drive away, of the top security officials. They have been meeting there in Mr. Sharon's office, considering the options which the security estimate and the security leadership, both in the Army and in the security services, had brought to Prime Minister Sharon's table and other top security ministers for them to consider what Israel might do. Might it, indeed, continue with initiated actions of its own against the militant groups? Will it continue talking to the Palestinians -- a highly unlikely option, it seems, at this stage for them, to go after the Palestinian groups, or will it seek to bring pressure on the Palestinian leadership for it now, in the words of one minister this morning, saying it's the last chance for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, to show that he means business and to go after the Palestinian militants so that they can't carry any further attacks out like that was carried out last night here in Jerusalem -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, Jerrold, let's talk about Mahmoud Abbas for just a bit, because supposedly there was a cease-fire in effect and apparently that did not hold. What can Mahmoud Abbas do now?
KESSEL: He's in a really, really tight spot. The fact is that while he was talking to the Pales -- to the militant group's leadership down in Gaza last night, he was meeting with Islamic Jihad leaders and he was due to meet with Hamas leaders this morning. They're the two groups who claimed responsibility for the bus attack last night.
It was exactly at that time that the bomber struck. Now, if that wasn't a stick in Mr. Abbas' eye, what is? Because he had been trying to convince those militant groups not just to keep the cease-fire, but to extend it beyond its projected end of September deadline. Now, the pressure is all on Mahmoud Abbas to say it's no longer enough simply to try to talk them into keeping the cease-fire, but, as the Israelis are demanding, and perhaps as President Bush put it early yesterday before that bombing in Baghdad, that the Palestinian leadership needs to curb the militants.
He is in a very, very tight spot, indeed.
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 August 20, 2003 - 05:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: To that suicide bombing in Jerusalem now, the weeks old truce in the region has been dealt a serious blow. The road map to peace is tattered and torn.
Let's take you live to Jerusalem and Jerrold Kessel, who is outside the offices of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon -- and, Jerrold, everybody's wondering what will Israel do?
JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, the big question that we are waiting to hear whether the Israelis will even announce or whether they will just do or make do with announcing what they want the Palestinians to do. This as Israel begins the burying of the dead from last night's attack. The funerals will begin this afternoon for the 20 people who were killed. There are over 50 who are still in hospital, a number of them, Carol, are still in serious condition, two reported to be in very serious condition.
There were a number of children among the dead and many among the wounded, as that Number 2 bus headed from the Western Wall, the holy shrine for Jews here in Jerusalem, to the ultra religious neighborhoods of the city. But it's here over the last two and a half hours, here outside the prime minister's office, if we push our camera in, you can see some of the cars down there outside Prime Minister Sharon's office. Top security consultations went on for about two and a half hours. We understand, we've had word from inside that those consultations have come to an end -- coming to an end. Some of the cars have driven away, others about to drive away, of the top security officials. They have been meeting there in Mr. Sharon's office, considering the options which the security estimate and the security leadership, both in the Army and in the security services, had brought to Prime Minister Sharon's table and other top security ministers for them to consider what Israel might do. Might it, indeed, continue with initiated actions of its own against the militant groups? Will it continue talking to the Palestinians -- a highly unlikely option, it seems, at this stage for them, to go after the Palestinian groups, or will it seek to bring pressure on the Palestinian leadership for it now, in the words of one minister this morning, saying it's the last chance for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, to show that he means business and to go after the Palestinian militants so that they can't carry any further attacks out like that was carried out last night here in Jerusalem -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, Jerrold, let's talk about Mahmoud Abbas for just a bit, because supposedly there was a cease-fire in effect and apparently that did not hold. What can Mahmoud Abbas do now?
KESSEL: He's in a really, really tight spot. The fact is that while he was talking to the Pales -- to the militant group's leadership down in Gaza last night, he was meeting with Islamic Jihad leaders and he was due to meet with Hamas leaders this morning. They're the two groups who claimed responsibility for the bus attack last night.
It was exactly at that time that the bomber struck. Now, if that wasn't a stick in Mr. Abbas' eye, what is? Because he had been trying to convince those militant groups not just to keep the cease-fire, but to extend it beyond its projected end of September deadline. Now, the pressure is all on Mahmoud Abbas to say it's no longer enough simply to try to talk them into keeping the cease-fire, but, as the Israelis are demanding, and perhaps as President Bush put it early yesterday before that bombing in Baghdad, that the Palestinian leadership needs to curb the militants.
He is in a very, very tight spot, indeed.
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
