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CNN Live At Daybreak

Violence Sabotaging U.S. Special Envoy's Work in the Middle East

Aired November 30, 2001 - 06:25   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Tensions continue to increase in the Middle East after yet another suicide bus bombing that took the life of three Israelis yesterday.

For more on that, let's go to our Jerusalem bureau chief Mike Hanna who is standing by -- Mike.

MIKE HANNA, JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Daryn, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is due to arrive in the United States within the next hour or so, taking the decision to go ahead with the trip, during which he'll meet President Bush, despite ongoing violence in the region. Violence has occurred while U.S. special envoy Anthony Zinni, former Marine Corps. general, has been in the region attempting to get the confronting sides together, attempting to implement a cease-fire on the ground. But so far in the days that Anthony Zinni has been here, that is since the beginning of the week, 14 people, Israelis and Palestinians, have been killed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANNA (voice-over): The shattered remnants of bus number 823. Israeli police say the Palestinian suicide bomber had just boarded the bus. Three Israelis were killed, another nine injured. This yet another violent attack ending a bloody day.

Earlier, at a roadblock just miles away, one Israeli was killed and another wounded when Palestinians in a passing car opened fire. And in the Jordan Valley to the east, two Palestinians were shot and killed by Israeli forces at a checkpoint.

The attacks may not be directly connected, but they all complicate U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni's efforts to secure a lasting cease-fire, a truce which the leaders of both sides have publicly said they want.

We are committed to peace as a strategic option, Zinni's been told by Yasser Arafat. We are going to make every effort to reach a cease-fire, he's heard from Ariel Sharon.

TERJE LARSEN, U.N. MIDEAST ENVOY: There is no lack of agreement. The core issue here is the lack of implementation. So the greatest challenge for all international actors right now is to get the parties to implement what they already have agreed upon. HANNA: Despite the bus attack, the Israeli Prime Minister will go ahead with a planned visit to the U.S. His message to President Bush, he says negotiations won't start until violence ends. But Palestinian leaders maintain just the opposite, violence won't end until negotiations start.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANNA: The Palestinian Authority has condemned the suicide bombing last night, however, the Israeli government has rejected this condemnation. Before his departure for the U.S., Ariel Sharon saying that he continues to hold Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat responsible for these attacks against Israeli civilians.

Meanwhile, Anthony Zinni continuing his work in the course of the day. He's also responded to that bus attack in the course of the evening saying that he believes that radical groups are attempting to undermine and sabotage his efforts to bring about a lasting peace in the region. While a lasting peace is down the road, what Anthony Zinni's still attempting to do is to get in place a cease-fire as a first step, a cease-fire that, for a change, is implemented on the ground -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Mike Hanna in Jerusalem, thank you.

And of course you'll see full coverage of Mr. Sharon's visit here to the U.S. right here on CNN.

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