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Arafat Says Ready For Cease-Fire; Israel Mourns More Dead; Arab Leaders Offer Normal Relations

Aired March 28, 2002 - 20:00   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.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am Christiane Amanpour. Israel mourns more dead, and ponders its next move. Arafat now says he's ready to call an unconditional cease-fire. All of this, after the Arab leaders, for the first time, have collectively offered Israel normal relations, an end to the conflict, the right to exist in return for land.

All this tonight, LIVE FROM NETANYA.

ANNOUNCER: A chilling walk through a deadly crime scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look at this table here. The tablecloth is still here, food left on the table, broken plates, knives and forks, a meal which was never eaten and a prayer book, as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Twenty-four hours after the Passover massacre, Yasser Arafat says he's ready to stop the violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YASSER ARAFAT, PALESTINIAN LEADER: I would like to reiterate our readiness to work for an immediate cease-fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: The Israeli response: give us actions, not words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we need are actions and not just another empty statement after which more Israelis die. Yasser Arafat knows what he has to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: No let up from an American president, trying to broker a truce.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I know the Middle East -- looks like there will never be peace. But I can assure you we're not giving up. We're not going to let murderers disrupt the march to peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: LIVE FROM NETANYA, Christiane Amanpour.

AMANPOUR: From the Arab summit in Beirut to the scene of recent bloodshed here in Israel, from the Arab leaders a call for peace with Israel to live in normal relations, and a warning that this kind of bloodshed will continue unless there is a political solution. They are saying that no peace can come from the barrel of a gun.

Meantime, as Israel mourns its dead, the cabinet meets into the predawn hours. CNN hears from a spokesman from the IDF, the Israeli Defense Forces, that Israel is mobilizing further reserve forces. And Yasser Arafat today calls and says that he is ready for an unconditional cease-fire.

CNN's Mike Hannah has all the latest news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE HANNAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Israel looking to its wounded, looking to its dead, as it ponders its reaction to the Netanya bombing. The full Israeli cabinet meeting overnight to take what sources say will be significant decisions.

Confronting the possibility of Israel military reaction, the Palestinian leader holds a news conference in Ramallah, Yasser Arafat saying he's ready for an unconditional cease-fire based on a plan drawn up by CIA Director George Tenet. It is an important move, says Arafat's spokesman.

NABIL SHAATH: At the moment when Israelis are preparing hundreds of tanks to invade our country, and to really devastate it and kill our people, President Arafat needs to be very clear. He is for a peace and for cease-fire immediately based on the Tenet plan.

HANNAH: But its differences over how this plan should be implemented that U.S. Envoy Anthony Zinni is attempting to bridge, and Israel has dismissed Arafat's cease-fire call as meaningless.

BA'ANAN GISSIN, ARIEL SHARON SPOKESMAN: We are quite fed up with those declarations that Arafat makes every time he feels the pressure is mounting on him. And the goes, turns around after he made the declaration to continue and support and instigate terrorist activity, the like of which we experienced with the Passover massacre last night.

HANNAH: Even as Arafat was making his cease-fire announcement, there was further bloodshed. Four Israelis shot and killed by a Palestinian gunmen at a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. The gunmen was shot dead by Israeli forces. This, like the terror attack in Netanya described by Israeli government spokesmen as a strategic action. The implication that such attacks are not the work of one individual or group, but rather part of a wider Palestinian onslaught against Israel.

(on camera): There is an awareness in the Sharon government that some militant Palestinians are intent on destroying the negotiation process, be it about a cease-fire or a wider peace. The Netanya bombing seen as a strategic moves in these attempts.

The question that will determine Israel's action in coming hours, whether the Palestinian Authority itself is behind the strategy of terror.

Mike Hanna, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Ra'anan Gissin, the government spokesman joins us now from our Jerusalem studios. Ra'anan, what is the cabinet likely to come out with? We know they are meeting now and they are planning to hold a press conference. What are we going to expect from them?

GISSIN: Well, I believe that the government is going to decide to exercise its right of self-defense. I think that's what the people in the streets around you that you see are asking for. I mean, they're fed up. Arafat made so many promises, did not deliver on any one of them. No cease-fire, ten of them that he accepted, was ever kept. He violated all of them. Every time, of course, when there is a massacre like the Passover massacre, similar to the massacre that was at the Gulf (UNINTELLIGIBLE), Arafat immediately calls for a unilateral cease-fire and makes a television appearance. Well, he doesn't have to make peace with television, he has to make peace with Israeli people and that he failed.

AMANPOUR: Ra'anan, even before the suicide attack, there were leaks, background briefings from Israeli officials, political and military saying that the Israeli government is planning even more intense offenses into the West Bank and Gaza. Is this what's going to happen?

GISSIN: Well, you know, everything that we do, we do as a result of the fact that Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian Authority, did not fulfill their part of the deal. They promised that they -- and pledged -- that they will fight terrorism. They accepted the Tenet proposal and the Mitchell report, all intended to bring about a return to peaceful negotiations. But it seems after so many months, 18 months of fighting and so many people we bury. And by the way, 42 dead since Zinni has arrived in this area, including those that died today in an attack in one of our settlements, Eilon Moreh.

All of these actions were instigated by a coalition of terror that Yasser Arafat has established. So we're saying this is the last chance, the last opportunity for Arafat to really deliver. And since he has no intention, we see no indication whatsoever of trying to stop this wave of suicide bombing, which, by the way, is also destroying Palestinian society, they don't understand that in the long run it will destroy Palestinian society. It leaves us with no choice, but to take the necessary action in order to defend our citizens.

This Netanya incident, this massacre that you've seen in Netanya is our ground zero. We have a right to defend ourselves.

AMANPOUR: Ra'anan, with Arafat calling for the Tenet agreement, calling for a cease-fire, with the Arab leaders for the first time offering normal relations with Israel, doesn't this put the government under some pressure? The U.S. has asked for precisely what Arafat did tonight.

GISSIN: These are all P.R. ploys, unfortunately. No, we really wanted to see coming out of that summit meeting a real sincere call for peace, and not something that caters to the lowest common denominator among the Arab countries, which calls for -- I would put it in terms of killing them softly with words. No, this is a non- starter what was offered there. And definitely there has to be more. There's no mention of terrorism, there's no mention of the right of Israel to live behind secure borders, and without that we will be facing similar terrorist attacks like the one that we faced in Netanya.

There has to be more and Arafat has to do more. And has to do what the United States has asked him all along to do, and that is to fight terrorism. Those who aid the terrorists, those who give them shelter, those who finance them are as bad as the terrorists. That's what President Bush said. And Arafat fails all those three criteria. He hasn't done anything to stop the terror attack, the night before -- the night before Passover into Jerusalem, it was lucky that our security forces were able to stop a car bomb that would have killed hundreds of people.

AMANPOUR: We have to leave it there. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.

In the meantime with this threat of retaliation hanging over the Palestinians now, CNN's Michael Holmes is in Ramallah in the West Bank where Yasser Arafat has been confined for the last several months. And he reports that the Palestinians fearing retaliation are stock buying and trying to get ready for what may be another long siege and offensive.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christiane, thanks. Yes, whether justified or not, and that remains to be seen. There is certainly a level of fear and tension on the streets of Ramallah this evening. We came into town through check checkpoints we've been through several times, and they're normally bristling with people and clogged with traffic as people try to enter and exit Ramallah through Israeli military checkpoints. When we came in late this afternoon, those checkpoints were virtually empty.

And we drove straight into Ramallah, and we drove along empty streets and closed down shops. The streets of this normally bustling city were virtual empty. It wasn't the same story a few hours earlier, however, reports of what one person told us was panic buying as Palestinians went out into the streets and stocked up on essentials, fearing a massive Israeli military retaliation for what occurred in Netanya.

Now, of course it was only earlier this month at that there was an Israeli military incursion here, tanks coming in and there were shots fired, firefights in the streets, tank shells, and also dead.

Now people then, on that occassion, were told to stay in their homes. And many of them were stuck there for nearly three days. Now people here are getting ready in case that happens again. So tonight in Ramallah, the streets are quiet. There was talk earlier of rumors of tanks coming into the city. That has not happened. There are reports of tanks just outside one of the checkpoints leading into Ramallah. No movement of those tanks, however. So, the people of Ramallah behind closed doors by their own choosing at this stage. When they choose to come out remains to be seen -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: We're going to the U.S. now where Major Garrett is traveling with the United States President Bush. Major, what is the president going to be expecting or pressing the Israelis to do now, retaliate or restraint?

MAJOR GARRETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's a fascinating question, Christiane, and I wish I could answer it for you. But that has been one question that has been completely off the boards with Bush administration officials in the last day. They will not discuss in any way, shape or form what signals they are sending privately to the Israeli government. And if the Palestinian leader, Mr. Arafat, thought he was going to shake anything up today by this embrace, this declaration he's ready to implement a cease-fire. That didn't happen, at least as far as the Bush administration is concerned.

Reaction from White House officials, decidedly noncommittal, saying they are reviewing Mr. Arafat's words, remaining in constant contact with the president's personal envoy, Anthony Zinni, but in no way either embracing or dismissing Mr. Arafat's declaration, basically just leaving it on the table. And the president said today in Dallas at a fundraising speech, the most important thing the U.S. can do to bring peace to the Middle East is to stand strong against terror. Some within Israel might consider that a green light, as Israel considers its military response to the Passover massacre -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: Major, thank you very much. And when we come back after a break, my interview with the Saudi Crown Prince, Faisal al- Saud (sic), about the new initiative which the Israelis say is a non- starter, but the Saudis say is a first and historic move.

ANNOUNCER: Next, a scene of horror.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What is quite chilling is to look down here and to see the pools of blood which are still here mixing in with the water because at the time of the explosion, all the water pipes burst. That's mixing with the blood. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: A walk through the site of a massacre. LIVE FROM NETANYA is back in a moment.

But first, will Yasser Arafat's call for a cease-fire end attacks on Israelis? Head to CNN.COM to take the quick vote. The AOL key word is CNN. A reminder, this poll is not scientific.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: U.S. Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni remains in the region. The retired Marine Corps general once headed the U.S. central command which overseas American forces in 25 countries, including the Middle East.

AMANPOUR: Nobody, much less the Arab leaders at the summit in Beirut, expected this Israeli government to embrace the peace proposal that was put on the table there. But the Saudi foreign minister whose country proposed for the first time a pan-Arab initiative, offering collective normal relations with Israel in return for withdrawal from occupied territories, says that this is, in fact, a historic moment. We began by interviewing him -- when we did earlier today, we began by asking him about the latest suicide bombing here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRINCE SAUD AL-FAISAL, SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER: We condemn the death of civilians. The suicide bombers, they are doing that, why are they doing that? Who on earth would destroy his own life, especially people at the beginning of life, young people, women and men? It's only because they have lost hope. They have lost all hope of a decent life, a life that they can count on, that they can build families, have children and assure their future.

It is the actions of Israel that is creating these suicide bombers and it is that violence that has stopped, that demeaning of the Palestinian people that has to stop.

AMANPOUR: What exactly does your peace initiative say? What are the details of normalization? What is that mean as far as you, the Saudis, are concerned?

AL-FAISAL: Normal relations are normal relations that exist between any two states, any group of states. I mean, what better definition to say than the relation that exists between states.

AMANPOUR: But is it just diplomatic or do you envision trade and culture and grassroots and youth?

AL-FAISAL: We envision a relationship between the Arab countries and Israel that is exactly like the relationship between the Arab countries and any other state.

AMANPOUR: And are you basically saying now that for the first time as a bloc, the Arab countries are recognizing, ready to recognize Israel's right to exist, to call an end to the conflict?

AL-FAISAL: I think this is one of the most important aspects of the proposal. For the first time, there is a proposal that security for Israel will come from a signing of peace treaty with all the Arab countries at the same time. All the neighborhood, if you will, would be at peace with Israel, would recognize their right to exist. If this doesn't provide security for Israel, I assure you, the muzzle of a gun is not going to provide that security.

AMANPOUR: Are the Arab nations now saying that they want a withdrawal to the '67 borders not an inch less but not an inch more? You have no further claims?

AL-FAISAL: We have absolutely no further claims on Israel. We wanted to live within recognized borders in peace and serenity and where everybody can plan for his future, where children can go to school without fear, where parents can walk in the streets without fear. This is the peace that we want.

AMANPOUR: What do you expect now from the United States, for instance?

AL-FAISAL: United States has a most crucial effort to -- United States is the one that supports Israel militarily, economically and politically. It is the only country that can wield an influence on Israel. It has been shown that when the United States pushes Israel towards a compromising position, they will listen. Even public opinion is affected by what the United States is doing. This is the time where sense must be talked into Mr. Sharon. The war and the conflict now is in his head. This has to be removed from his mind. And the -- only the United States can do that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: And in the meantime, there has been a crescendo rising in many of the leading U.S. newspapers basically accusing this administration of essentially whistling while the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been burning for all these months, of taking way too long to get engaged. The message that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia will take to President Bush when he does visit President Bush later on will be, please, get engaged in this process.

We'll be back after a short break.

ANNOUNCER: Next, surviving a massacre. Israelis who lived through the deadly hotel suicide bombing describe a scene of horror.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: The latest crisis in this region has been wrought, as we've been reporting, by the suicide bombing attack at this hotel in Netanya. You can probably see the lobby around me destroyed and the dining room behind that destroyed. Twenty-one Israelis were killed and scores were wounded as they were eating their Passover seder. CNN's John Vause reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A room that tells the story of what should have been a celebration, tables still set with plates and wine glasses, food that was served but never eaten.

More than 200 people including grandparents and grandchildren had gathered for a meal that is the traditional start of Passover. Among them, a kindergarten teacher, Sylvia. Now in the hospital, she agreed to share her experience but did not want her face on camera because she says she's afraid she may become a target again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE VICTIM: I felt like I was burning. I turned around to my husband and said screaming, I'm burning, I'm burning.

VAUSE: She traveled from Sweden for a family reunion. She says she saw the suicide bomber moments before the blast.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE VICTIM: My husband said when we entered the lobby that look at this man, this doesn't feel right. He's so suspicious. I just remember his head and his face and his mumbling and his stone face. And you could really not see if he was a man or a woman.

VAUSE: Sylvia can't remember the front door security. Instead, she was focused on her family and the holiday.

(on camera): It was in this room where the suicide bomber exploded himself. He came in that door there. He walked calmly through the hotel and we then understand he then ran into this banquet room here, this dining room here. And around here, he exploded the bomb which he was wearing.

The blast was incredible. It brought down part of the ceiling. As we look here at the dance floor of this banquet room, there are pools of blood.

His name was be Abdel Baset Ohda (ph), a 25-year-old Palestinian man who like many suicide bombers before him made a videotape describing the killings he was planning. There are rumors he was a hotel worker in Netanya. He was certainly a member of the militant group Hamas. The attack was so deadly, so destructive, because he detonated the bomb in an enclosed area. Paramedic Noam Eger (ph) was one of the first to arrive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The smell in the air was overwhelming, gun powder and flesh. And it's something that you never forget.

VAUSE: Maxim Elkreve (ph), the hotel cook, was in the kitchen when the bomb went off. He ran to the dining room and was overwhelmed by the devastation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see the blood, I see the people dead, I see the people don't know where they're going. It's very old.

VAUSE: For so many here, Passover will also be a time of mourning. But from her hospital bed, Sylvia says she will not be intimidated and will return to be with her family next year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE VICTIM: If I decide not to go, then the terrorist have won over me and the Jewish people. We have to go.

VAUSE: John Vause, CNN, Netanya, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: And so, what next? The Israeli cabinet continues its war meetings, its war cabinet, if you like. You heard the Israeli spokesman saying that this government reserves the right to self defense.

And in the last few minutes from Palestinian sources in Ramallah on the West Bank that Israelis have moved in. The Israeli soldiers and tanks have moved in towards Yasser Arafat's headquarters. This, according to Palestinian sources and that there also has been an exchange of fire. We will, of course, be watching that and keep you updated.

That's our report for tonight. Good night from Israel.

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