Return to Transcripts main page

Your World Today

Reports Say al Qaeda Rebuilding, Strengthening; Little Progress Seen From Mideast Trilateral Talks; Britain's Prince Harry to Deploy to Iraq

Aired February 19, 2007 - 12:00   ET

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

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The violent pushback in Afghanistan and the wider implications of a resurgent al Qaeda.
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Stepped up security, yet the bombs keep coming in Iraq. Is there any sanctuary in sight for Iraqis caught in the crossfire?

GORANI: A battle royal for glory and honor. Britain's Prince Harry campaigns for the chance to go to a war zone that most soldiers would want to leave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes, the hexangular (ph) germ fries, the cowboy bone. And that's good?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: And a cleanup campaign of Olympic proportions in China hopes to wipe out Chinglish before the games believe.

GORANI: It is 10:00 p.m. in Kabul, 8:00 p.m. in Basra, Iraq.

Hello and welcome to our report broadcast around the globe.

I'm Hala Gorani.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy.

From Shanghai, to Madrid, Kansas City to Montreal, wherever you are watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Regrouping, rebuilding, and re-establishing control.

GORANI: U.S. intelligence suggests al Qaeda leaders are strengthening their network despite years of a U.S.-led effort to weaken it in Afghanistan.

CLANCY: Now, intelligence officials say core al Qaeda members have found a real safe haven in the remote tribal regions of Pakistan right along the Afghan border.

GORANI: They say that area is becoming an operations hub for the terrorist network. U.S. officials tell CNN al Qaeda training camps there are "full." Let's get more now from our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, who has been closely following this story.

Now, five years into this battle to root out al Qaeda from Afghanistan, overthrow the Taliban government, what are the indicators that al Qaeda is gaining strength in that part of the world?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hala, what U.S. intelligence officials say is that very issue of those training camps. They're different than the training camps they saw in Afghanistan prior to the 9/11 attacks. Of course these perhaps are smaller, but they have -- they are full. They say they have attendance.

What's really new here is they're talking in terms of core al Qaeda, not the people on the fringes, if you will, but the real adherence to the movement. And all of this, they say, has really evolved over the last several months since the Pakistani government, of course, reached that agreement with the tribal leaders in that region saying that it would keep somewhat of a hands-off attitude to the area, if, in fact, it did not become a safe haven. And, of course, that's exactly what has taken place. With no teeth really behind the Pakistani government's agreement, al Qaeda, core al Qaeda now re-establishing camps and really settling in, officials say, in a much more structured, routine way, if you will, becoming part of the landscape -- Hala.

GORANI: Well, what do Pentagon officials you speak say should be done now?

STARR: There is continuing pressure by the United States on the Pakistani government, on President Pervez Musharraf. Just a few days ago, in fact, while Defense Secretary Robert Gates was traveling in Europe, he took a side trip, several hours, traveling for a very brief meeting with President Musharraf.

He is not saying what the actual topics were, but one can only assume it was the security arrangements. That is something that the U.S. continues to pressure the Musharraf government on for a crackdown in this region.

GORANI: All right. Barbara Starr, live in Washington.

Thank you, Barbara.

We'll have a lot more on this story, and especially al Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, and the role he might be playing in all this, later when CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen joins us live on YOUR WORLD TODAY -- Jim.

CLANCY: Let's shift now to Pakistan, one of the areas that Barbara was just talking about. There's trouble there as the president, General Pervez Musharraf, reports a deadly attack on a train that was linking New Delhi and Lahore. And he says that attack simply stiffens his resolve that the peace process with India must succeed. At least 65 passengers were killed in twin blasts aboard what is called the "Friendship Express." The Indian government is calling the incident an act of sabotage. Many of the victims were Pakistanis.

Pakistan is pressing India to conduct a full investigation and to share the results with Islamabad. Now, the explosions come ahead of the expected arrival of the Pakistani foreign minister in New Delhi on Tuesday for another round of peace talks.

GORANI: To Iraq now.

At least 11 people killed when mortar shells slammed into a Shia neighborhood in southern Baghdad. They're the latest victims of a violent day. It's claimed at least 20 lives and wounded 70 this Monday.

Earlier, two people were killed and eight wounded when a bomb exploded inside a minibus in the capital. And shortly after that, twin roadside bombs killed six, including three police officers in the southeast -- in the city. Meanwhile, suicide car bomber killed two U.S. soldiers and wounded another 17 north of Baghdad.

CLANCY: Also in the Middle East, billed as a primer for renewed Middle East peace talks between Israeli and Palestinians, but it doesn't look like a meeting that the U.S. secretary of state had with Israel, and Israeli and Palestinian leaders really got past square one on Monday.

State Department Correspondent Zain Verjee is in Jerusalem, where the talks ended with little comment, really, just a few hours ago -- Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Jim, there were no great expectations, but it was a start.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE (voice over): It started with an awkward handshake. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calling her landmark meeting with Israeli people minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas informal, careful not to call the talks negotiations. The bar for any breakthrough was set very low even before the meeting started.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: It was a useful and productive meeting.

VERJEE: For more than two hours, they talked about how to get to a future Palestinian state, but Rice emerged alone to make a statement.

RICE: All three of us affirmed our commitment to a two-state solution, agreed that a Palestinian state cannot be borne of violence and terror, and reiterated our acceptance of previous agreements and obligations.

VERJEE: The only agreements from these talks, keep talking. Abbas and Olmert say they will meet again, and Rice says she'll be back to the region soon.

After being criticized for sitting on the sidelines while the peace process stalled, Secretary Rice now says she's committed to help end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the new Palestinian unity government threatens to torpedo her new push. Israel says it won't deal with a government that includes Hamas if it doesn't recognize Israel and reject violence. It says it will continue to reach out to Abbas, who preaches peace.

Israeli officials say the talks were a good start at building trust with the Palestinians.

MIRI EISIN, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN: And hopefully that will build an atmosphere that will helps us go forward towards a negotiation process.

VERJEE: Abbas' aides say Rice's presence at the meeting was key, and without it the two sides couldn't have talked the tough issues.

SAEB ERAKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: This meeting was a candid, very frank meeting. Everybody said what they wanted to say.

VERJEE: Still, many Israelis and Palestinians are skeptical of Rice's efforts, saying that her 10 trips to the region since taking office have accomplished nothing. And U.S. motives are also in question. Some experts say Rice is only making a push for peace now to gain Arab support in Iraq and to counter Iran's growing influence in the region.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: And Jim, Secretary Rice says she really wants to take it slowly right now. She doesn't want to push both sides too hard, too soon -- Jim.

CLANCY: Zain, obviously, as we heard there, the Palestinians would like to see talks go forward and be substantive, but given their internal problems in the new unity government, how likely is that?

VERJEE: Jim, it's pretty unlikely. The Palestinians would like to see economic sanctions lifted on them that were imposed by the international community after Hamas came to power in January of 2006.

The real problem here, Jim, is that the unity government has not satisfied the United States or Israel. The U.S. -- officials tell us privately that they are really frustrated by the unity government.

What they've been doing over the past month is backing Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to confront Hamas, a group the U.S. has on its list of terrorist groups. But now Abbas and Hamas are involved in a power-sharing government that complicates the situation for the United States. Publicly, though, they're saying let's wait and see when the government is formed -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. Zain Verjee, great to have you there reporting live from Jerusalem on these talks -- Hala. GORANI: All right.

Well, let's check some other news we're following today for you.

(NEWSBREAK)

GORANI: Well, sources tell CNN that Britain's Prince Harry, third in line to the throne, could be on his way to Iraq as early as this April, a couple months away. Now, Harry, who graduated from the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst last year, has said he wants to go. But how close will Britain's third in line get to the front lines?

Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Buckingham Palace with the latest -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Hala.

Well, it does appear as though Prince Harry has got his wish. He's been fairly vocal since he left that Sandhurst military academy, saying that if he is training as a soldier to serve in Iraq, he wants to make sure that he is in Iraq, constantly saying that he just wants to be treated like one of the boys, but, of course, he isn't. He is a prince, and he is third in line for the throne.

So, of course if this turns out to be correct and if he is going to Iraq, the security situation and keeping the prince safe is a nightmare.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS, (voice over): This is Prince Harry, age 8, inspecting the troops with his mother, the late Princess Diana. And clearly enjoying playing soldier.

Fourteen years later, Troop Leader Wales, third in line to the British throne, has trained for service in Iraq, and it looks as though he may be going. Military sources tell CNN that at this moment, Prince Harry is expected to head for active duty in Iraq in April or May, but that could still change. No public confirmation from military or royal officials.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Incoming!

HANCOCKS: This footage shows what life in Basra can be like. These British soldiers taking cover from a mortar attack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Incoming!

HANCOCKS: One hundred and one British soldiers have been killed in action in Iraq since March 2003, but Harry has long insisted he wants to see action, to fulfill his role as an officer, even reportedly threatening to resign if he's stopped from deploying for security reasons.

PRINCE HARRY, "TROOP LEADER WALES": The last thing I want to do is have my soldiers sent away to Iraq, whatever like that, and for me to be held back home twiddling my thumbs thinking, well, what about David, what about Derek, you know, whoever, you know?

HANCOCKS: Harry would not be the first royal to fight in a war. His uncle, Prince Andrew, served as a helicopter pilot during the 1982 Falklands War.

There are fears that Harry's presence in Iraq could make him and his unit a trophy target for insurgents. No word on how close to the front line Harry would be allowed. One thing is clear, though, his brother, Prince William, is unlikely to ever see fighting in his army career. A second in line to the throne and the Prince of Wales's first son, he is widely expected to eventually become king.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS: Now, we are expecting in a week or two to hear from the Ministry of Defense, saying whether or not that unit will be going to Iraq and whether Prince Harry will be going to Iraq. But, of course, it's very unlikely we will get much in the way of information or specific details, obviously for security reasons -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. Thanks very much.

Paula Hancocks, live at Buckingham Palace in London.

CLANCY: That's a huge story in Britain.

A lot of people care about it. And we want to know what you think about Prince Harry going to Iraq. That's our viewer question.

GORANI: You heard some of the issues raised there in Paula's piece, some of the concerns as well. Would he become a trophy target and the rest of it?

E-mail us your thoughts and your comments, yourviews@cnn.com. Give us your name, where you're writing from. We might read a selection of it later in the program.

Well, coming up, more on reports that al Qaeda is rebuilding operations in Pakistan.

CLANCY: That's right. When we come back with YOUR WORLD TODAY, we're going to get some perspective. Perspective on those training camps along the border area. We're going to talk with a terrorism analyst who has met Osama bin Laden himself.

GORANI: Also, Iraqi officials say the Baghdad security clampdown is working, despite the violence. But is there really a big change on the streets?

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Welcome back. You are with CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CLANCY: We're bringing CNN's international and U.S. viewers up to speed on some of the most important international stories of the day.

Well, returning now to one of our top stories, and, of course, that is the U.S. intelligence assessment on al Qaeda. The assessment that it's regrouping and regaining strength in remote tribal regions of Pakistan and beyond.

We're joined now by CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen, who has been covering Osama bin Laden and his network for years.

Not a new warning, but what are the indications that are seen?

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, according to a U.S. intelligence official who was in Pakistan in 2006, there are up to 2,000 foreign fighters in this tribal region along the Afghan-Pakistan border. Also, according to a senior military intelligence official I've spoken to, there are training camps.

Now, these are not training camps you can see from the air or from a satellite. But they're inside compounds. You're getting 10 to 20 people practicing bomb-making, doing exercises. And we're seeing some of this stuff showing up in these kinds of al Qaeda training tapes that are coming out, showing training only in the training -- in the tribal areas, and, of course, this is more than just training.

People are using this training to go and do things. So the London attack in July, 2005 that killed 52 commuters is increasingly seen as an al Qaeda operation, not as just a bunch of guys who got radicalized in the north of England. People -- the guys behind the London attack actually trained in Afghanistan, met with -- met with al Qaeda leadership on the Afghan-Pakistan border.

CLANCY: All right. Well, this is what's important. You know, and you have to go all of the way back to al Qaeda as a name.

It means "The Base." And what does it say about their command, their control, their aims in strategy?

BERGEN: Well, Jim, you know, if this was a Mafia crime organization, they'd be out of business because, you know, the way you take down a crime organization is you arrest or kill or capture all the leadership. But al Qaeda is a much stronger organization. It's motivated by very strong religious beliefs, and it also draws tremendous strengths from insurgencies.

And we've got two very big insurgencies going on. One on the Afghan-Pakistan border, and the other one in Iraq.

According to the U.S. Marine's assessment which was leaked to "The Washington Post" in December, al Qaeda actually controls Anbar Province, which is huge province in western Iraq. And al Qaeda now has a very strong presence in the tribal areas along the Afghan- Pakistan border. So, unfortunately, this group, which the conventional wisdom was it was sort of out of business, unfortunately is back in business. What that means for -- what that means for American security isn't really clear.

What it means for British security is very clear already. They launched one attack in July 2005, an al Qaeda operation. They also tried to bring down 10 American airliners in August of last year. That plan luckily didn't work out. But the head of the defense intelligence agency recently testified that that plan was directed from al Qaeda in Pakistan.

CLANCY: All right. You're looking at all of this, people would say, well, the obvious answer here is go in and take out those bases that should have been done in Afghanistan before September 11th. What's the political -- what's the military reality?

BERGEN: Well, Pakistan is in a very difficult situation, Jim, because they've gone in there in the past and they've lost hundreds of -- hundreds of their soldiers going after militants in the tribal areas. They've now conducted some peace agreements with a number of the militants in these tribal areas.

These have not been particularly useful in terms of security in Afghanistan, because as a result of these peace agreements, we've seen a rather -- we've seen surge of attacks in Afghanistan coming out of these tribal areas, into Afghanistan, against Afghan targets, U.S. military, and NATO targets. So neither policy has really worked. Appeasement hasn't really worked for these militants, nor has the sort of very strong military action the Pakistani military took in the last several years.

So, I'm not sure what the answer is. There is definitely a problem. The Pakistani...

CLANCY: Peter...

BERGEN: Go ahead.

CLANCY: ... should we be worried about this? Should we be demanding that somebody come up with a solution?

BERGEN: I think we should be very worried about it, Jim. I mean, after all, 9/11 came out of this area, the Cole attack in Yemen, the embassy attacks in '98 in Africa. And if this group is reorganizing, that's a big problem.

And it's not just a problem for the United States. It's also a problem for countries in NATO. It's a problem for Afghanistan. It's also really a problem for Pakistan. I mean, just in the last month we've had six suicide attacks in Pakistan itself coming from the militants who are regrouping in this area.

CLANCY: OK.

Peter Bergen, as always, great talking with you. Our CNN terrorism expert Peter Bergen joining us there from Washington.

GORANI: OK. There's a lot more ahead here on YOUR WORLD TODAY. We'll have an update on the day's top business stories.

CLANCY: And then a little later, lost in translation. As Olympics are approaching, authorities in Beijing are trying to be picture-perfect hosts. And sometimes, well, a word is worth a thousand pictures.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

CLANCY: Multiple attacks in Baghdad killing at least 20 people Monday, wounding dozens more. Six died when a pair of roadside bombs exploded near a police station. Two perished when a bomb blew up a minibus. And 11 more killed in a mortar attack.

Meantime, just north of the capital, a rare frontal assault on a U.S. base in Tarmiya (ph). Two U.S. soldiers reported killed there, more than a dozen others wounded. All of those coming after Iraqi officials over the weekend claimed the new security clampdown had reduced violence 80 percent.

CNN's Arwa Damon has been talking to U.S. military commanders. She joins us now from Baghdad.

Arwa, what are they telling you?

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, there has definitely been a change in the battlefield, a change in the trends that the U.S. military is seeing in the battlefield. Although, quite frankly, they are wishing that the Iraqi government hadn't come out with that statement with the 80 percent decrease in violence just yet, saying that it really is premature at this point to come to the conclusion about the success, or lack thereof, of this new push to try to secure the capital.

This is a very complex insurgency, and it is morphing all of the time. What the U.S. military fully expect to see happening right now is that in the beginning stages, as this plan is unfolding, there perhaps won't be that many attacks, while the insurgency sits back and watches how the plan unfolds on the streets. And at that point, then the insurgency will, in turn, lay out its own plan of attack -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. Is there a shift seen to north of Baghdad, to areas where the push isn't on?

DAMON: Well, Jim, there is, and that is also a trend that we have seen in the past. For example, while it's there, might be a certain level of decrease in violence in one area, that there has been an increase of U.S. and Iraqi troops. There will be and there have been shifts to areas, for example, north of the capital, such as Diyala province, where U.S. officials and Iraqi officials are saying that they have seen an increase in violence, especially an increase in attacks they're attributing to al Qaeda and Iraq, and this is a trend we've seen for quite some time now, a clamp down in one area on the insurgency just shifts it to another location -- Jim.

CLANCY: You know, but as -- Arwa, as we look at the situation, and the people are concerned really now about that sectarian violence, the bodies found every morning on the streets of Baghdad killed by death squads. Is there any change there?

DAMON: Well, Jim, this is what's interesting, what we have seen over the last few weeks is a relative decrease in the number of bodies that have been found by Iraqi police, Iraqi officials throughout the capital. This, too, is the trend that we have seen in the past -- when U.S. troop presence and Iraqi troop presence is jointly increased in an area there has been the trend that the in sectarian violence there decreases.

However, this does not mean a decrease in overall violence or attacks; despite the fact that we have seen this relative decrease in sectarian violence, we've had devastating attacks taking place in Baghdad as recently as Sunday, with those two car bombings that exploded on a busy commercial street that killed over 60 Iraqis -- Jim.

CLANCY: The bottom line -- is there a real decrease in violence or not?

DAMON: Well, Jim, to be quite honest, the U.S. military minds here and Iraqi officials as well, those that you talk to behind the scenes, will caution against drawing any sort of conclusion at this point. They do realize that they are facing an incredibly complex set of problems. Military solutions aside, there are a number of political factors, political steps that also have to be made. In one sense you can defeat the insurgency militarily, but until the political institutions are set up, until the economy becomes jump started, the insurgency here really will not be defeated. It all boils down to also building up the hope and the trust of the Iraqi people, and that is going to take quite some time.

CLANCY: And at least a measure of success on the security front. Arwa Damon reporting to us there live from Baghdad. Arwa, as always, thank you.

GORANI: Last week both the houses of the U.S. Congress debated a measure expressing disapproval of President Bush's troop-escalation plan. The House of Representatives actually passed a nonbinding resolution on the matter.

But as Dana Bash tells us, opponents of the White House Iraq strategy are now considering tactics with a little more bite to them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): CNN is told that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has tentatively agreed to try to modify Congress's 2002 broad authorization for war. SEN. JOE BIDEN, (D) CHAIRMAN, FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Saddam Hussein is no longer there. The 2002 authorization, in my view, is no longer relevant to the situation in Iraq.

BASH: Senate Foreign Relations Chairman and presidential candidate Joe Biden floated legislation limiting U.S. troops in Iraq to a support role instead of combat.

SEN. JACK REED, (D) RHODE ISLAND: We have to start thinking hard about a change mission in Iraq for our military forces, support them in that mission, but not an open-ended commitment to the Iraqis.

BASH: But there are other Democratic ideas. Presidential candidates Chris Dodd and Barack Obama already introduced bills requiring congressional authorization for more troops in Iraq. And over the weekend, Hillary Clinton detailed her plan.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) NEW YORK: Now it's time to say the redeployment should start in 90 days or the Congress will revoke authorization for this war.

BASH: Republicans, from the president on down, are taunting Democrats to choke money for the mission.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: Have the courage of your convictions to stop this war by cutting off funding.

BASH: In the House, Democrat John Murtha has a plan to set strict conditions on the president's war funding request.

Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: All right. As we've been reporting, a meeting of U.S., Israeli and Palestinian leaders failing to produce any apparent progress on Monday. The ultimate goal -- the formation of a Palestinian state, peace between the neighbors, Israel and Palestine, well, al that does seems far away as ever.

Here to discuss the problem, Nabil Fahmy, Egypt's ambassador to the United States.

Ambassador, thank you for being with us.

Now little progress. And many people are watching this tripartite meeting are saying, yet another gathering that is producing no results. Are you disappointed?

NABIL FAHMY, EGYPTIAN AMB. TO THE U.S.: No and yes. First of all, we haven't had these kinds of gathering for a while now, and people tend to forget that. So I think having the gathering itself was a step -- a useful step.

I, on the other hand, I'm not wanting to say, yes, that it was a productive meeting, or that it is breaking new ground. I think that's -- the proof will be in the pudding on that. We need to wait and see what happens next.

GORANI: We need to wait and see. No date is set for the next meeting. None of the major issues dividing Israelis and Palestinians, final borders, the status of Jerusalem, the right of return for refugees, even broached during this meeting.

FAHMY: That's an excellent point. I think the most positive step that has been taken going into the meeting has been that the secretary of state said this will be a priority issue for the next two years for the administration.

On the other hand, the meeting did not deal with the four substantive issues you highlighted. That's where the difference stands between the Palestinians and Israelis. Israelis don't want to deal with them yet. The Palestinians do want to deal with them.

If the meetings that have been announced between Abu Mazen and Prime Minister Olmert, if they end up talking about opening roads, and removing roadblocks and security cooperation alone, then, frankly, this trilateral meeting will have been a disappointment.

If, on the other hand, this is the first small step, but a step, towards a political discussion about security refugees, Jerusalem, and the border, then I think it would be a step forward.

GORANI: Sure. But let me -- here's what skeptics and pessimists are saying, OK. There was Palestinian official quoted in a "Financial Times" article today, saying you're seeing a lot of expectations managed by a lot of weak leaders, either on their way out, or weak because they're politically unpopular, or because Abu Mazen, for instance, represents really the Palestinian Authority, the government itself; the Hamas-lead government not represented there. What do you make of that?

FAHMY: Well, on the one hand, he's right. On the other hand, he lacks perspective. Every single change in direction in the Middle East, starting from the Egypt-Israeli Agreement onwards, always started when the leaders in the region felt a lot of pressure domestically to do something. That started when President Sadat came into office after President Nasser, and it's been going on throughout the last 20 years.

So weak or difficult domestic political situations are not a reason not to move forward; they've proven in history to be the motivation for moving forward.

GORANI: All right, and thanks for that perspective.

What about Egypt? What role will -- does Egypt want to play in all of this? And also what kind of influence can it have in all of this, as a U.S. ally and also as a country that's established its own relations with Israel?

FAHMY: Sure. First of all, we do this, because it serves the national interest. We were the first to have peace with Israel but we understand peace for Arabs and Israelis will only be completed if comprehensive. So we will continue to work with the Palestinians and Israelis to move the process forward, both in the fine settlement issues, as well as in the day-to-day issues.

And as you know, we've been very active in trying to get the prisoner exchange between Palestinians and Israelis, but we will move on to politics as well. Be that the case, there are a lot of other regional issues that have to be dealt with as well that relate to the Arab-Israeli conflict, and our role is quite prominent there. The -- it's important to take into account all of the peace agreements reached between Arabs and Israelis are based on the same principles that governed the Egyptian-Israeli agreement, which is basically land for peace and the 1967 reality.

GORANI: All right, thank you so much, Ambassador Nabil Fahmy, the Egyptian ambassador to Washington -- Jim.

CLANCY: Well, in the university town of Cambridge in England, police have arrested a young man early on Monday. They say it is in connection with a series of letter bomb attacks in England.

Alfonso Van Marsh has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALFONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Police called the arrest at this house, about an hour northeast of Monday, a significant development in the investigation into a series of letter bombs that has had mail rooms on edge for over a month.

ASST. CONSTABLE ANTON SETCHELL, OPERATION HANSEL: Police arrested a man in the Cambridge area. He is now being held at some undisclosed police station.

VAN MARSH: Police say the man is in his 20s, his arrest linked to seven letter bombs placed in the post since January. Most of the bombs targeting companies or agencies linked to traffic enforcement, like the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. Five of the seven letter bombs detonated, injuring at least eight people, though none of the injuries were serious. Two of the bombs were detected before they went off.

Police won't give any details about the man arrested Monday, but they say a forensic investigation is expected to take several days. In the meantime, authorities are warning people to open their male with caution and to be on the lookout for suspicious padded A5 envelopes, the kind used in all of the earlier letter bombs.

SETCHELL: At this stage I'm still not able to guarantee that there is not another postal package containing an explosive device within the postal system.

VAN MARSH (on camera): There's been plenty of local media speculation that a disgruntled driver or animal rights activist could be responsible for the bombings.

Police aren't saying whether the man arrested on Monday could have any connection to either one of those theories.

Alfonso Van Marsh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Well, still ahead, right here on YOUR WORLD TODAY, getting Beijing ready for the upcoming Olympics.

GORANI: Well, it's not just the streets that are getting cleaned up, Beijing is also cracking down on "Chinglish."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK. I think a serving of the husband and wife lung slice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Welcome back. You are watching YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.

CLANCY: That's right. And no matter where you're watching, you're not alone, because there's people in 200 other countries around the globe that are watching this as well.

Now it's said that there is a universal language of athletic competition.

GORANI: It's a notion that will be put to test, of course, in China and Beijing at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

CLANCY: But you know, when it really comes down to translating the Chinese language, for English-speaking travelers and visitors, the results, well, I guess we could say they're far from universal. In fact, there might have been a couple of errors made -- Hala.

GORANI: Just a couple.

CLANCY: John Vause explores the linguistic netherworld known as "Chinglish."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Sometimes when English and Chinese collide, the result can be downright terrifying. And if you think "Keep off the grass" would be fairly simple, in China that translates to "Tiny grass has a life. Sincere concern shows under your feet." But with the Olympics fast approaching, Beijing is trying to correct what's commonly referred to as Chinglish, often humorous, sometimes mysterious translations.

DAVID TOOL, ENGLISH TEACHER: The Chinese are very, very anxious that everything go very, very well and that they look very sophisticated and things come off very smoothly.

VAUSE (on camera): For the Olympics. TOOL: For the Olympics, right.

VAUSE (voice over): David Tool is a teacher and one of dozens of volunteers trying to demuddle Beijing's English. His biggest success so far, he says, taking the "anus" out of the Anus Hospital.

TOOL: I'm really amazed at how quickly they've put it up. This has been less than a month.

VAUSE: Restaurant menus, though, are another matter.

TOOL: (INAUDIBLE) soup. It's just a typo.

VAUSE (on camera): What does crap taste like?

TOOL: Actually, fortunately, I've never eaten crap, but the carp is very good.

VAUSE (voice over): Typos are one thing, but sometimes it's not even worth trying to guess.

(on camera): OK. I think a serve of the husband and wife lung slice, the stab the body platter.

Ah, yes, the hexangular (ph) germ fries, the cowboy bone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

VAUSE: And that's good?

So this is what the order looks like. The husband and wife lung slices are, in fact, heart and stomach. The stab the body platter is sashimi, which doesn't look too bad. And the hexangular (ph) germs, well, they're mushrooms and beef ribs.

(voice over): Across Beijing, the rush is on for better English from one of the volunteers...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm speaking English.

VAUSE: ... to taxi drivers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our taxi driver, they will come for foreign people to Beijing.

VAUSE: But along the way, some fear a little something is being lost, the old world charm, that special Chinglish.

John Vause, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: It adds to the experience. There's always something...

GORANI: I like the sign that says "sucker" in big letters. Who goes through that door? I don't know. CLANCY: It's amusing, and it gives all of us travelers something to think about. When we go there and we trade stories.

GORANI: A lot in the Middle East also, I'm sure you know.

CLANCY: Oh, yes.

GORANI: In dubious English.

CLANCY: Time to open the mailbag.

GORANI: Yes, absolutely.

We're going to take a short break on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

When we come back, we'll hear from you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Despite near freezing temperatures, officials in New Orleans say Mardi Gras crowds are bigger than last year. Revelers were out for parades on Sunday, two days before the main celebration on Fat Tuesday. Officials say hotels are nearly full and flights into New Orleans are at capacity. Crowds estimated to reach about 700,000. Now this is New Orleans' second Mardi Gras since the city was devastated, of course, by flooding from Hurricane Katrina back in September of '05.

CLANCY: All right, time now I guess to hear from all of you, our viewers. We've been asking for your views regarding reports. Britain's Prince Harry may soon severing in the combat zone of Iraq.

GORANI: Well, that's the wish. Our question today, what do you think about Prince Harry going to Iraq?

Here's how some of you replied.

James writes from Prague: "Why should he be treated any differently, when innocent children from families all over the world are facing the situation.

CLANCY: Simon in Zimbabwe had this to say: "In a world of hypocrisy and double standards, it is wonderful to see such leaders coming the royal family."

GORANI: Well, Suzanne from the U.S. state of Maryland writes, "It may cause some security risks." We discussed those with Paula there, "but he is serving his country, and you can't sneeze at that."

CLANCY: Mike from Doha in Qatar has this to say, though -- "If he puts his 'wants' above all else by going to Iraq, he would increase the risk to others."

GORANI: All right, keep those letters coming, we'll keep reading them on the air throughout the day. Our e-mail address is yourviews@CNN.com. Well, thank you all for watching this hour. I'm Hala Gorani.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. And this is CNN.

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