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Bush Calls Abbas, Sharon
Aired May 20, 2003 - 13:15 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Terrorism is having a field day in the Middle East: five suicide bombings since Saturday have killed a dozen Israelis. The latest was at a shopping mall in northern Israel. President Bush is urging Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas to crack down on the groups responsible. A top Israeli official calls the attacks a declaration of war.
More now from CNN's Kelly Wallace. She joins us live from Jerusalem. Kelly, tell us about this call between Abbas and President Bush.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I can, Kyra, and also there was a call between President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. You will recall that Prime Minister Sharon was supposed to be in Washington on this day, meeting with President Bush, but he postponed his visit because of this recent wave of terror attacks.
According to Prime Minister Sharon's office, in that call, the prime minister said he is determined to move forward on this peace process, but he said the only way to move forward is for terror to be beaten.
Now, in that call earlier on this day, U.S. President Bush reaching out to the Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, and in that call, according to a Palestinian official, the prime minister urged President Bush to put pressure on Israel to accept and implement that so-called Mideast road map. Many Palestinians believe until Israel accepts and starts implementing this road map, and starts pulling forces out of Palestinian towns, Mahmoud Abbas won't really have the political support to convince the Palestinian people to back a crackdown on these radical Palestinian groups.
No question, Mahmoud Abbas is facing a tremendous challenge to his leadership after these five suicide bombings in 48 hours, the latest of course, Monday night, when three Israelis were killed, including a security guard who prevented the 19-year-old woman, the suicide bomber, from getting inside the mall, and turning the situation into something that would be much, much worse.
In an interview today, Prime Minister Abbas said he condemns these attacks, but he also says that Israeli actions, including occupation in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip is contributing to the violence.
Now the Israelis made a move today that could be seen as a bit of a gesture to Mahmoud Abbas, pulling Israeli tanks and troops out of a northern Gaza Strip town. Israeli officials say this was part of an operation to try and prevent homemade rocket attacks launched from the Gaza Strip against Israeli towns. I was just speaking a short time ago with a senior Israeli official who said, yes, there are no plans right now for any large-scale, military operations in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip in response to these five suicide bombings. This official saying the goal right now is to contain the threat, saying that the Israelis are dealing with some 59 terror alerts every day.
But also, the position right now, Kyra, of the Israeli government, is it doesn't want to do anything, it says, to undermine Mahmoud Abbas right now. There's a lot of concern, and they want to try and see if he can possibly do something soon to rein in these radical Palestinian groups -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: A lot of people watching. Our Kelly Wallace, live from Jerusalem. Thank you.
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 May 20, 2003 - 13:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Terrorism is having a field day in the Middle East: five suicide bombings since Saturday have killed a dozen Israelis. The latest was at a shopping mall in northern Israel. President Bush is urging Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas to crack down on the groups responsible. A top Israeli official calls the attacks a declaration of war.
More now from CNN's Kelly Wallace. She joins us live from Jerusalem. Kelly, tell us about this call between Abbas and President Bush.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I can, Kyra, and also there was a call between President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. You will recall that Prime Minister Sharon was supposed to be in Washington on this day, meeting with President Bush, but he postponed his visit because of this recent wave of terror attacks.
According to Prime Minister Sharon's office, in that call, the prime minister said he is determined to move forward on this peace process, but he said the only way to move forward is for terror to be beaten.
Now, in that call earlier on this day, U.S. President Bush reaching out to the Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, and in that call, according to a Palestinian official, the prime minister urged President Bush to put pressure on Israel to accept and implement that so-called Mideast road map. Many Palestinians believe until Israel accepts and starts implementing this road map, and starts pulling forces out of Palestinian towns, Mahmoud Abbas won't really have the political support to convince the Palestinian people to back a crackdown on these radical Palestinian groups.
No question, Mahmoud Abbas is facing a tremendous challenge to his leadership after these five suicide bombings in 48 hours, the latest of course, Monday night, when three Israelis were killed, including a security guard who prevented the 19-year-old woman, the suicide bomber, from getting inside the mall, and turning the situation into something that would be much, much worse.
In an interview today, Prime Minister Abbas said he condemns these attacks, but he also says that Israeli actions, including occupation in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip is contributing to the violence.
Now the Israelis made a move today that could be seen as a bit of a gesture to Mahmoud Abbas, pulling Israeli tanks and troops out of a northern Gaza Strip town. Israeli officials say this was part of an operation to try and prevent homemade rocket attacks launched from the Gaza Strip against Israeli towns. I was just speaking a short time ago with a senior Israeli official who said, yes, there are no plans right now for any large-scale, military operations in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip in response to these five suicide bombings. This official saying the goal right now is to contain the threat, saying that the Israelis are dealing with some 59 terror alerts every day.
But also, the position right now, Kyra, of the Israeli government, is it doesn't want to do anything, it says, to undermine Mahmoud Abbas right now. There's a lot of concern, and they want to try and see if he can possibly do something soon to rein in these radical Palestinian groups -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: A lot of people watching. Our Kelly Wallace, live from Jerusalem. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
