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Talks in Rome Haven't Produced Cease-Fire Agreement in Middle East; Four U.N. Observers Killed in Israeli Strike on Bunker; Al- Maliki Vs. Congress

Aired July 26, 2006 - 08:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
I'm Soledad O'Brien in New York.

Good morning, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Soledad.

From war-weary Haifa, Israel, I'm Miles O'Brien.

Back to you.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. Thanks.

Let's get right to those emergency talks going on in Rome. They have not produced any cease-fire agreement. The U.S. secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, standing practically alone against more than a dozen European and Arab states.

CNN's John King live for us in Rome this morning.

Hey, John. Good morning again.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again to you, Soledad.

And the dramatic headline out of Rome is that they simply have failed to reach a plan, even any consensus on a broad outline of a plan to bring about a cease-fire 15 days into the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. And as a result of that, the fighting will continue.

Lebanon's prime minister perhaps summed it up best just moments ago. He said every day without a cease-fire means more killing and more destruction.

So we're hearing a lot of diplo speak, if you will, today, a lot of positive talk about the international community trying to continue these discussions in the days ahead. But the bottom line is, Soledad, 18 nations and major international organizations ranging from the United States to the United Nations, Arab allies, came together here with one fundamental goal, find a way to agree on a plan for a cease- fire. They leave these talks without such a plan. There is an agreement on the humanitarian package. There is an agreement on a major multibillion-dollar reconstruction package for Lebanon. But none of that, of course, especially the reconstruction part, of no use until the fighting stops.

So, while they will try to get more humanitarian aid in, try to claim diplomatic progress out of these meetings, on the fundamental question of stopping the fighting, getting a cease-fire, creating a new international peacekeeping force, and dealing with the question of Hezbollah's future, should it be allowed to exist in Lebanon with arms, with rockets that can imperil Israel, no answers to those questions, Soledad.

A promise of more talks, but as they leave here promising more talks, the fighting and the killing continues -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: John King in Rome for us this morning.

John, thanks for the update.

Let's get right back to Haifa. That's where Miles is reporting from this morning.

Hey, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad, 37 rocket firings on northern Israel today. Thirteen injuries, one of them serious. Take a look at this scene. This is on the outskirts of Haifa.

A man just driving his car, and a rocket lands very nearby. They're packed with these ball bearings, or buckshot, if will you. A tremendous amount of shrapnel all in the general vicinity of these Katyusha rockets as they land. Serious injuries there.

Meanwhile, north of the border, a civilian crisis there of epic proportions. Eight hundred thousand people displaced, lots of people going without food, medical supplies, the like.

The Jordanian air force flying in two American-made C-130s in between the craters left by the Israeli air force at Beirut International Airport. Those C-130s able to land and take off in very short runway distances. So they'll still be able to come in there and at least get the process of getting aid to the people who need it. We've talked to rescue and relief effort individuals and organizations who say they're trying to secure and having a better luck, quite frankly, getting safe passage for those supplies to the people in need who are displaced internally inside Lebanon.

The other big story of the day is yesterday's Israeli air force attack on a United Nations outpost right in the midst of the heavy fighting. This well-marked, long-held United Nations viewing station became the target of Israeli air force fighters and precision weapons. This, despite reports those United Nations observers were calling the Israeli air force and their conduit to the air force and saying, "Cease fire."

We get more on this story from CNN's Richard Roth at the United Nations -- Richard.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Miles, the United Nations Security Council is likely to receive a briefing today from a peacekeeping official about what exactly happened at Khiyam in Southern Lebanon. Kofi Annan, at his press conference, along with Secretary of State Rice and the Lebanese and the Italians, that's going on right now, just told reporters that he received a call from Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, which we have reported, but Annan saying now that he accepts what Olmert is saying. The Israeli prime minister saying a mistake was made. He expressed his deep sorrow, but Annan said that the U.N. force constantly tried to tell the Israelis they were getting very close to the U.N. outpost in Khiyam with their attacks during the day, "not to harm our people," said Annan.

As regarding the call for a cease-fire, which the people at that press conference have said people should work for, but was not officially agreed to, this is what Annan had to say moments ago...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: And I would hope that as we move forward, not only would we agree on the political settlement, we would take immediate action to assist on the humanitarian front, as some of you know, that I did -- I have asked the council to consider urgent action and cessation of hostilities. And this group has also endorsed the need for urgent action to stop the hostilities so that we can move in to the longer-term mode and be able to deploy troops.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: Well, Annan may have asked the Security Council last week for a cessation of hostilities but it's still a split Security Council. The U.S. is holding out for any type of official demand for a cease-fire or for Israel to stop fighting back against Hezbollah rockets.

Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman, well aware that the United Nations membership is going to be outraged over what happened to the U.N. military observers, last evening talked about what Israel is going to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN GILLERMAN, ISRAELI AMB. TO U.N.: We are very, very sorry, and we regret this tragic incident and extend our condolences to the families of the Chinese, Finnish, Austrian and Canadian casualties. But I seriously don't believe that Kofi Annan believes that this was a deliberate target. I think that -- and I hope -- that his statement was made in haste.

I believe it is premature, irresponsible and regrettable. I don't think anybody in his right mind thinks that Israel is targeting U.N. personnel.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROTH: Kofi Annan, in his initial statement of reaction, said Israel had apparently deliberately targeted the U.N. military observers. Annan telling reporters a short time ago that he said "apparent deliberate targeting," that he said please quote him correctly -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Speaking of correct, Richard, when last you were on the air, I proved that I need a little primer on the United Nations observation mission there. I said, correcting you, that they came in after 2000, after the Israelis left Southern Lebanon then. In fact, they'd been there much longer, which would indicate this outpost has been there for quite a long time.

ROTH: Yes, Miles. Of course, the anchor is always correct on television, but the U.N. team that is there has actually been there since 1978, and they still have the title, the United Nations Interim Force in Southern Lebanon.

There was an earlier move by Israel into Southern Lebanon, more based on pursuing the PLO at that time. So the names may change, but that U.N. force is still there, but does not have enforcement powers to shoot or to take its weapons up against people. They just monitor movements, who's doing what, and report it.

M. O'BRIEN: Or, some might say, sitting ducks.

United Nations Senior Correspondent Richard Roth, who is never wrong when it comes to U.N. matters. I should know better.

Thank you very much.

Let's move on now to Tyre, Lebanon. CNN's Karl Penhaul has been there. He's been talking to some of the colleagues of those U.N. observers, as well as watching a dramatic attempt to rescue additional Americans through a very difficult and dangerous part of the world -- Karl.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first to the attack on that U.N. outpost. I mean, that is east of the city of Tyre, some ways east, in fact. But it's not the first attack.

We were talking to an Irish captain, and he was telling us that this is the third attack in as many days on a U.N. outpost. Yesterday's was the worst. Four fatalities there in what's been called a targeted attack. But also, the previous day, an Israeli tank shell flew across the border and hit a U.N. post near Ramash (ph).

And then the day before that, near Maroun al-Ras. You'll remember there scenes of heavy battles between the Israeli and Hezbollah fighters. A Hezbollah bullet apparently seriously wounded a U.N. military observer there.

All that according to a U.N. spokesman.

But this is what the Irish captain had to say about yesterday's incident. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. RONAN CORCORAN, U.N. OBSERVER: Yesterday, throughout the day, we had a number of what we term firings close. These are when artillery or rocket fire is directed in an area within a certain circumference as to make us feel unsafe within our observation posts. All are (INAUDIBLE) are unmanned. It's a big part of our neutrality and freedom of movement.

Everybody, all players out here, understand we are unmanned, we fly a blue flag. We are the secretary-general's eyes on the ground. And yesterday there were a series of firings close on the position that was eventually hit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PENHAUL: You'll remember in addition to the United Nations being hit in the last few days, Lebanese Red Cross ambulances have also been hit by Israeli bombs, Red Cross spokesmen say, and that makes it difficult for another issue, which is the extraction of civilians from this area.

The U.S. Embassy says around 500 U.S. citizens are still in this area, and today we saw small convoys of them arriving from a village called Yaroun (ph). That's just a mile across from the Israeli- Lebanese border. And what some of the people that traveled on that convoy were telling us was that it was a journey along a highway from hell. They were saying that the highway was littered with missiles and shrapnel from ordnance, and they told us how they had spent two weeks holed up in a basement with little food and water as buildings crumbled around them under heavy artillery fire -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: CNN's Karl Penhaul. Harrowing tales there from the city of Tyre, Lebanon, the port city in the southern part of that country -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles. Thanks. We'll check back in with you in just a moment.

Fist, though, an update on a story that's been developing all through the morning. The former Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, in the intensive care unit. Doctors removing excessive fluids from his body following kidney failure complications.

A hospital spokeswoman says that Sharon is being treated with IV antibiotics. She says he's in stable condition, there's no further deterioration of this brain. Sharon has been in a coma since January, when he suffered a massive stroke.

In about two hours, Iraq's prime minister is going to speak to a joint meeting of Congress. His visit to Washington, D.C., was intended to highlight progress in Iraq, but his comments on the Mideast crisis are kind of putting him at odds with many people in Congress.

Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash is live for us on Capitol Hill this morning.

It's kind of taken away the focus on what he was there to talk about, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly has, if you're talking to Democrats. Republicans are trying not to let that happen, Soledad.

But, as a matter of fact, the Iraqi prime minister is already here on Capitol Hill this morning. He had a breakfast with Republican and Democratic leaders. And in that meeting, leaders from both parties said they were going to press him. In fact, the House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, told us she did press him on the question of what his position is when it comes to Hezbollah after comments he made last week saying that essentially he condemned what he called Israeli aggression in the current Mideast conflict.

Now, this is an issue that has infuriated Democrats, because they say that this is something that is essentially at odds with the Bush administration, at odds with what the U.S. policymakers and lawmakers believe with regard to Israel, and they said -- many of them said they actually wanted to cancel this speech coming up this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: We want him to make a statement as to how he and his government feels about Hezbollah. And he needs to answer that question. He's in America. America deserves that.

We have spent hundreds of billions of dollars in Iraq. We've lost more than 2,500 American soldiers, more than 20,000 wounded. We deserve that answer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, as I mentioned, Republicans are trying very hard not to let this controversy over Hezbollah overshadow the prime minister's visit and his speech today. Let's listen to the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist, on AMERICAN MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: I don't think they give a balanced view in Lebanon, but he is the democratically elected leader of a sovereign country, and he has the right to think and to have the opinions that he would like to. He is our ally in the war on terror, as it's being fought out in Iraq, and we need to continue to support him and support him aggressively. Ask tough questions, and that's the dialogue we'll have over the course of the morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, of course, it is three months, about three months before congressional elections, where Iraq is going to overshadow most of what voters are thinking and looking at when they go to the polls. And that is why regardless of this issue about Hezbollah, lawmakers from both parties say that they are going to be listening very closely to what this man, whom the president and they, frankly, have a lot riding on what he says, is his plan. Does he have a plan specifically for security of Iraq, to set the stage for what they are all listening for and hoping for, U.S. troops to start coming home?

But, I can tell you, Soledad, after listening to what the prime minister and the president said at the White House yesterday, there's a lot of skepticism and not a very good feeling about the prospects for that today here on Capitol Hill.

S. O'BRIEN: Dana Bash on Capitol Hill for us.

Dana, thanks.

Well, we're all watching what's happening not only in northern Israel, but also in Lebanon, of course. This morning we're going to talk to a woman from Louisiana who is also keeping a very close eye on what's happening in Lebanon. Her husband and her son have been stranded there. She's anxiously awaiting any word on what's happened to them.

Also this morning, we get Israel's reaction to the news out of Rome. There's no cease-fire in sight. A top Israeli official will join us live.

And then later this morning, a slice of life in Haifa, how they're keeping a cool head in the middle of war.

That's ahead on this special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has concluded her meeting with representatives of the European nations, moderate Arab countries, and the United Nations in Rome. It appears it was a diplomatic dead end. At least that's what we're getting so far publicly in the wake of that meeting.

One of the parties not invited was Israel.

Here with more on that and some other matters in the news today is Gideon Meir, who is the chief spokesperson for the foreign ministry here in Israel.

Mr. Meir, good to have you with us.

GIDEON MEIR, DEP. DIR., GEN. MEDIA & PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Why wasn't Israel at this meeting in Rome?

MEIR: This is a question that has to be directed to those who initiated the conference. But actually, to be on the more serious side, the conference, this is a core conference which was initiated on Lebanon before it all started. So Israel was not invited in the first place, and we don't go to places where we are not invited. M. O'BRIEN: So that's why Lebanon was there but not Israel. So this is a coincidence that this meeting is occurring?

MEIR: I think, yes.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

Let me ask you this. The secretary of state is pushing a plan that would call for sort of a two-stage peacekeeping process, and the first stage would be troops made up of the Egyptian armed forces and the Turkish armed forces. Is Israel OK with Egypt and Turkey occupying a buffer zone of some kind in Southern Lebanon?

MEIR: I am unaware of any details yet of what was discussed between the Israeli leaders, the prime minister, and the foreign minister, and the secretary of state on the details of the force. I can tell you that our position is that we welcome a force which will be able to implement United Nations Resolution 1559 and to deploy -- actually, to help the Lebanese army to be deployed down to the -- to the south, on the border between Israel and Lebanon.

M. O'BRIEN: So, it would be OK if it was the Egyptians and the Turks?

MEIR: It has to be decided. For us, what is important is which would be the countries, and the prime minister said already Europeans and Arab countries, and I will not go into details right now. And what would be the mandate of this force?

M. O'BRIEN: OK. Are there any countries that you would prefer not be a part of this force?

MEIR: Even if there will be countries, you don't expect me now to share it with you here on the air.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

The prime minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, is talking today about some sort of two-kilometer-wide buffer zone. What would that accomplish? The Katyusha rockets have a range of 20-plus miles. We're told Hezbollah has rockets that go even farther.

What's the point of a two-kilometer buffer?

MEIR: First of all, a buffer zone will enable -- or will disenable any force, hostile force to launch multiple bombs into Israeli cites in the northern part, to kill enough soldiers, and to use all kinds of mines against Israeli patrols, because we have to make sure that this zone is clean of Hezbollah. What will be northern to this part I don't know yet, but right now the Israeli Defense Forces are working very hard in order to make sure that the fire on this city here, Haifa, and Tiberius, and the whole part of the northern part of Israel, will be stopped.

M. O'BRIEN: But then you would really need a Hezbollah clean zone of at least 20 miles into Lebanon. Wouldn't you? MEIR: What we -- what we would like to see is the implementation of United Nations Resolution 1559, which calls for the disarming of Hezbollah. And actually, no Hezbollah. '

You cannot have two countries -- two countries in one country, two governments in one country. The Lebanese government and a terror kind government by -- of the Hezbollah, impossible.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

Mr. Meir, let's shift gears here, because there's a lot of concern, recriminations, angst and anger over this attack by the Israeli air force at the United Nations outpost. I want to share with you briefly a quote from the secretary-general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan.

He said this -- four U.N. observers killed after this precision missile struck that outpost. "I am shocked and deeply distressed at the apparently deliberate targeting by Israel Defense Forces of a U.N. observer post in Southern Lebanon."

Was it deliberate?

MEIR: Absolutely not. What interest does it serve? What purpose has Israel to kill four servicemen of the United Nations? It doesn't serve any interest.

Quite the contrary. For us, any human life, any civilian, whether it is Lebanese, or whether it is from any other country, whoever is a noncombatant is not a target for us. So it was not deliberate.

We are at war. And I have to tell you something. Even at war, friendly fire are killing Israeli soldiers.

It happens. It's a mistake, a regrettable mistake. The prime minister called this morning Kofi Annan and regretted what happened and the mistake which happened last night.

M. O'BRIEN: Did the observers call repeatedly and say "Cease fire"?

MEIR: I don't know.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

Finally, was Hezbollah using that U.N. flag in some way as a shield?

MEIR: Might be. Might be. They do everything possible.

They don't hesitate to use the U.N. flag, they don't hesitate to use the civilian population. They don't hesitate to use anything which is in the name of terror, in the name of Iran and Syria. They will do everything possible to kill as many Israeli. And even, you know, Ahmadinejad said it loud and clear, to destroy the state of Israel.

M. O'BRIEN: Gideon Meir, spokesperson for the foreign ministry here in Israel.

Thank you for your time.

MEIR: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: We'll take a break. We'll be back with more AMERICAN MORNING in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: How would a peacekeeping force be composed and deployed to settle the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon?

CNN military analyst retired Major General Don Shepperd is in Washington, D.C., this morning.

Nice to see you, sir, as always. Thanks for being with us.

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: My pleasure, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Before we talk specifically about the peacekeepers, which have been really the sticking point, as you well know, in these discussions going on in Rome, let's first talk about these U.N. observers, which, to some degree, has made what's already a problematic situation even worse.

Show me on the map exactly where they were killed and describe for me the circumstances in which these U.N. observers work.

SHEPPERD: Yes, it made matters worse, indeed, Soledad.

We have a map here showing Southern Lebanon, the area of concern. There were 13, as we see them, U.N. peacekeeping locations there, well known, had been there, many of them, since 1978. So these are well known, the coordinates are well known. And basically, this was in the northeastern part of the area, an area called Khiyam.

Reportedly, shells came close, calls were made, cease fire, what have you, and then the tragic accident took place. Four U.N. peacekeepers killed. This has to be some type of tragic error -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Why do you say that? Kofi Annan, as you well know, has certainly gone further than hinted that he thinks it's deliberate.

SHEPPERD: Yes. There may be some words that don't quite match here. It could be indeed somebody deliberately targeted this spot, not knowing that it was a U.N. -- a U.N. outpost. But, again, this U.N. outpost has been known.

It could be an errant missile, it could be an errant bomb, it could be a simple mistake by a pilot or a gunner. We're going to have to wait to see what the results of the investigation are.

S. O'BRIEN: How do you think what's happened there now affects the potential for any kind of peacekeeping troops on the ground there, whether it's days or months or years to come?

SHEPPERD: Well, I think it makes it much more difficult. People are already cautious about going into this area, stepping into this boil cauldron. And anybody that's going to contribute troops makes it much more -- much, much more difficult.

S. O'BRIEN: Ten thousand troops is what we're hearing now, maybe up to 30,000 troops in this international force. First of all, where do you think they'd come from? Big problems there, big issues there.

SHEPPERD: Yes. Let me show you, again, things that we've looked at here.

We've talked about them going in this southern area. And most likely they would come -- initially, the 10,000 troops would come from Turkey and also from Egypt.

They would move in by sea. That's the way you move in heavy equipment. You would fly the people in later by air.

There's three ports, Haifa, in Israel, Tyre, in Lebanon, and then Beirut, in Lebanon. And most likely, they would go in through Tyre, would be my take on this.

Once they get into the port, they will then go on land and establish a forward operating base, a command and control headquarters, if will you. And then from there they will establish outposts out in the area. From those outposts, they will send -- they will send out patrols.

Another factor is that the Bekaa Valley will play heavily in this. Not just Southern Lebanon and the areas south of the Litani, but the Bekaa Valley, which controls the access of things coming from Syria into Lebanon. So this will be complicated and will require probably 30,000 troops when it's fully implemented -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Nobody wants to give their troop, it sounds like, at least to me. The U.S. said they're not. NATO is not. Great Britain clearly has problems with it. France also. Germany would under certain conditions.

Egypt, an Arab nation, doesn't that really complicate things? If they're going to send their troops in to monitor Hezbollah, potentially fire upon Hezbollah militants and militias and ostensibly protect Israel? That seems a very unlikely scenario to me.

SHEPPERD: It seems like an unlikely scenario, but a possible scenario. First of all, if you've got a peacekeeping situation where some Arabs are involved, that sounds like a good thing. On the other hand, Israel is going to have problems with some nations. Some nations it will trust, some won't. Whoever goes into this area, there has to be an agreed upon cease-fire first. Nobody's going to go in until this cease-fire is agreed upon by both Hezbollah and Israel. You want to go in as a peacekeeper, not a peacemaker in there, not having to shoot anybody.

S. O'BRIEN: And as you well know from the discussions falling apart in Rome, that's not going to happen any time soon, at least. That's the big sticking point.

The region we're talking about is pretty small. I mean, what is it, 120 miles by 30 miles? So something like the size of Connecticut, essentially.

How important is this buffer zone going to be?

SHEPPERD: Well, the buffer zone is important in that it keeps rockets out of northern Israel. But let me give you an idea of how small this area really is.

A hundred and twenty miles is the length of -- entire length of Lebanon. That's the distance between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. In width, 40 miles, the distance between Washington, D.C., and Annapolis.

When you're talking about the buffer zone down south, you're talking about the outskirts of Washington, D.C., from south to north, in this buffer zone. So this is really, really small.

If you take a look at it superimposed on the United States, this -- this whole area, from the southern tip of Israel to the northern tip of Lebanon, is the distance between Oklahoma City and Kansas City. That's the area we're talking about. Really small, but really, really big problems, very dangerous and very difficult -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that last part sort of the understatement of the century.

All right. Military analyst General Don Shepperd.

Nice see you, sir, as always. Thanks.

SHEPPERD: My pleasure.

S. O'BRIEN: We've got to take a short break. We're back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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