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CNN Live At Daybreak
Bus Bombing in Jerusalem Kills 10, Dozens Hurt
Aired January 29, 2004 - 06:30 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: It happened a little more than four hours ago. A suicide bomber blows himself or herself up. At least 10 are known dead, and it happens as Hezbollah and Israel carry out a deal.
We take you live now to Jerusalem and John Vause.
Hello -- John. Bring us up-to-date.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
Well, first, let's deal with the explosion on bus No. 19. It happened during peak hour traffic not far from the official residence of the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon.
Israeli authorities are investigating what they say is a strong possibility that the suicide bomber may have, in fact, been a woman.
Now, it appears that she set at, or he set at, the back of the bus, detonating a very powerful explosion, tearing that bus apart, killing, as you say, 10 people, at least 10 people, wounding at least 45 others. Police and security services say they had no information about this attack.
There are already calls within the Israeli cabinet for the Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to be expelled. That is in line with a cabinet decision, which was taken four months ago.
Now, the Palestinian Authority, though, has condemned this suicide bombing.
The Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qorei, is calling for an immediate resumption of peace negotiations with Israel, and Ahmed Qorei has told CNN that there is now a preparatory meeting between his office and the Israeli prime minister's office that will take place next week to pave the way for the first meeting between Ahmed Qorei and Ariel Sharon.
Ahmed Qorei was sworn in October 7. These two men have not met, but it appears that that meeting will now take place.
Israel, though, says that this bus bombing is a deposition in a coming court case at the International Court of Justice on that barrier, which it's building along the West Bank. A senior advisor to the Israeli prime minister is saying that Israel should now be left alone and should be allowed to do what it must do to defend its citizens, and that is to build that barrier along the West Bank. And there is some speculation that this suicide bombing would, in fact, interfere with the exchange of POWs, which happened just a few hours after the explosion. About 400 Palestinian prisoners were bussed to checkpoints along the West Bank and Gaza. They were then transferred from Israeli buses onto Palestinian buses. They were taken, according to this deal, to their homes in the West Bank and Gaza.
A short time ago, we are told, about 60 of those prisoners turned up at Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah, and right now the Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat is meeting with about 60 of those prisoners.
At the same time, the Israeli chief rabbi identified the remains of three Israeli soldiers. This was part of the deal. Once those remains were identified as being the three Israeli soldiers who were kidnapped in 2000, then the deal could go ahead. That is what set this in motion.
In a few hours from now, those bodies will be flown from an air base in Germany to Tel Aviv, along with a kidnapped businessman, who is still alive. He will then be questioned by various authorities here in Israel about what he was actually doing at the time in Lebanon -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, John Vause reporting live for us from Jerusalem.
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 January 29, 2004 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It happened a little more than four hours ago. A suicide bomber blows himself or herself up. At least 10 are known dead, and it happens as Hezbollah and Israel carry out a deal.
We take you live now to Jerusalem and John Vause.
Hello -- John. Bring us up-to-date.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
Well, first, let's deal with the explosion on bus No. 19. It happened during peak hour traffic not far from the official residence of the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon.
Israeli authorities are investigating what they say is a strong possibility that the suicide bomber may have, in fact, been a woman.
Now, it appears that she set at, or he set at, the back of the bus, detonating a very powerful explosion, tearing that bus apart, killing, as you say, 10 people, at least 10 people, wounding at least 45 others. Police and security services say they had no information about this attack.
There are already calls within the Israeli cabinet for the Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to be expelled. That is in line with a cabinet decision, which was taken four months ago.
Now, the Palestinian Authority, though, has condemned this suicide bombing.
The Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qorei, is calling for an immediate resumption of peace negotiations with Israel, and Ahmed Qorei has told CNN that there is now a preparatory meeting between his office and the Israeli prime minister's office that will take place next week to pave the way for the first meeting between Ahmed Qorei and Ariel Sharon.
Ahmed Qorei was sworn in October 7. These two men have not met, but it appears that that meeting will now take place.
Israel, though, says that this bus bombing is a deposition in a coming court case at the International Court of Justice on that barrier, which it's building along the West Bank. A senior advisor to the Israeli prime minister is saying that Israel should now be left alone and should be allowed to do what it must do to defend its citizens, and that is to build that barrier along the West Bank. And there is some speculation that this suicide bombing would, in fact, interfere with the exchange of POWs, which happened just a few hours after the explosion. About 400 Palestinian prisoners were bussed to checkpoints along the West Bank and Gaza. They were then transferred from Israeli buses onto Palestinian buses. They were taken, according to this deal, to their homes in the West Bank and Gaza.
A short time ago, we are told, about 60 of those prisoners turned up at Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah, and right now the Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat is meeting with about 60 of those prisoners.
At the same time, the Israeli chief rabbi identified the remains of three Israeli soldiers. This was part of the deal. Once those remains were identified as being the three Israeli soldiers who were kidnapped in 2000, then the deal could go ahead. That is what set this in motion.
In a few hours from now, those bodies will be flown from an air base in Germany to Tel Aviv, along with a kidnapped businessman, who is still alive. He will then be questioned by various authorities here in Israel about what he was actually doing at the time in Lebanon -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, John Vause reporting live for us from Jerusalem.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
