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CNN Live At Daybreak

Arafat's Televised Appeal for Peace Followed by Mortar Attack

Aired December 17, 2001 - 06:14   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 LIN, CNN ANCHOR: In the Mideast today, new violence in the wake of Yasser Arafat's televised call for an end to the bloodshed and a return to the peace process. CNN's Chris Burns joins us live from Jerusalem with more on that -- Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Carol, well, there was a mortar attack. One mortar was fired into a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip overnight. That just came hours Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, addressed his people, telling them they needed to stop -- there must be a stop to any militant attacks. Some of those attacks have left dozens of Israelis dead in recent weeks and sparked an Israeli crackdown by the airports and ground forces.

He said that the militants are actually undermining his quest to establish a Palestinian state and are actually playing into the hands of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, so that giving him excuse to launch more attacks against Palestinian positions. So Arafat taking a very strong stand, perhaps his strongest yet in this 15-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation that has left more than 1,000 people dead, most of them Palestinian.

Arafat saying in his speech that he is outlawing -- he wants to outlaw any terrorist groups. He wants to arrest and punish anybody involved in these terrorist activities. He called for an end to suicide bombings, which is something that the Americans and Israelis have been demanding that he do for quite some time.

What the Israelis -- what is the reaction from the Israelis? They say they are going to wait and see. They are not waiting at all. We saw this morning -- in fact, there was an incursion into the West Bank in Hebron, where the Israel defense forces shot and killed a Hamas leader, who they said was trying to escape. The Palestinian security officials say that that is exactly what happened -- that that Hamas leader was trying to escape when he was shot dead.

So more violence there, and Hamas reportedly coming back and saying that they will retaliate for that, and that Arafat's call for an end to violence did not mean an end to resistance to the Israeli occupation. So once again, Arafat is being put to the test here. And the Israelis, as well as the Americans, are watching to see whether his words actually are put to action -- Carol.

LIN: All right, Chris, being put to the test and certainly perhaps giving credence to what the Israelis are saying that Yasser Arafat is no longer relevant. So given this public appeal to end the violence, and the fact that the violence continues, is there credence to that claim by the Israelis?

BURNS: Well, that's a good question. In fact, the Israelis -- yes, the Israelis say that they would like to see him actually take action.

One thing that is somewhat perhaps poisoning a bit the atmosphere is an incident this morning in East Jerusalem, where Israeli authorities briefly detained the main Palestinian leader in East Jerusalem. His name is Sari Nuesseibeh. He is seen as a moderate in what had been the peace process, calling for a moderate solution in the peace process. He was detained, because he was holding, or trying to hold a reception for Eid al-Fitr, which is a very important Muslim holiday today. He was detained because he was trying to hold up the Israelis, saying that that it was sort of an offense against Israeli sovereignty over the area.

East Jerusalem was taken in 1967 by Israeli forces and annexed. That has not been recognized by other countries. And so again, this sort of shows that there is not a great deal of trust between both sides, and Arafat's test will be to see if he can actually stop the attacks, perhaps leaving -- or paving the way for a restart of the peace talks -- Carol.

LIN: We shall see. All right. Chris Burns reporting live in Jerusalem.

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