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On the Road to Peace?
Aired May 29, 2003 - 13:36 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to discuss, among other things, their planned summit with President Bush.
CNN's Kelly Wallace in Jerusalem with more on all this.
Hello, Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.
Stormy weather here in Jerusalem. But both sides say they don't expect a stormy meeting. Instead, both sides say they are somewhat optimistic that some progress will be made, especially in advance of next week's summit meeting with U.S. President Bush.
Israeli sources are telling us that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will go into this meeting, telling the Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, that now that the Israelis have given qualified endorsement to this Middle East road map, that the Israelis are expecting the Palestinians to take steps now to crack down on radical Palestinian groups responsible for attacks against Israelis.
Sources are also telling us Mr. Sharon will likely propose pulling Israeli forces out of possibly the northern Gaza strip and other West Bank towns, if the Palestinians say they are prepared to control security.
Now, Palestinian sources tell us that Prime Minister Abbas will go into this meeting with his own agenda. He will be calling for Israel to issue a declaration, saying it supports a two-state solution to the conflict. He will also be pressing for steps on the ground, to ease the plight of the Palestinian people, including a freeze to any settlement activity, as well as an end to Israeli military operations in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.
But on this day, just hours before this meeting, those operations did continue in the Palestinian territories. Israeli military sources say they were after and killed two members of radical Palestinian groups. Mahmoud Abbas will say these operations need to come to an end, so he can convince groups, such as Hamas, to go ahead and disarm and stop their attacks against Israelis.
All this being said, Miles, no one expects a major breakthrough coming out of this meeting, but perhaps some progress. One official saying, perhaps a sign the road map is now on the road. Big announcements about what exactly the next steps will be for both sides, both sides say, likely to come next week in Jordan -- Miles. O'BRIEN: Even baby steps, I suppose, will be welcomed. Kelly Wallace, thank you very much.
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 29, 2003 - 13:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to discuss, among other things, their planned summit with President Bush.
CNN's Kelly Wallace in Jerusalem with more on all this.
Hello, Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.
Stormy weather here in Jerusalem. But both sides say they don't expect a stormy meeting. Instead, both sides say they are somewhat optimistic that some progress will be made, especially in advance of next week's summit meeting with U.S. President Bush.
Israeli sources are telling us that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will go into this meeting, telling the Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, that now that the Israelis have given qualified endorsement to this Middle East road map, that the Israelis are expecting the Palestinians to take steps now to crack down on radical Palestinian groups responsible for attacks against Israelis.
Sources are also telling us Mr. Sharon will likely propose pulling Israeli forces out of possibly the northern Gaza strip and other West Bank towns, if the Palestinians say they are prepared to control security.
Now, Palestinian sources tell us that Prime Minister Abbas will go into this meeting with his own agenda. He will be calling for Israel to issue a declaration, saying it supports a two-state solution to the conflict. He will also be pressing for steps on the ground, to ease the plight of the Palestinian people, including a freeze to any settlement activity, as well as an end to Israeli military operations in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.
But on this day, just hours before this meeting, those operations did continue in the Palestinian territories. Israeli military sources say they were after and killed two members of radical Palestinian groups. Mahmoud Abbas will say these operations need to come to an end, so he can convince groups, such as Hamas, to go ahead and disarm and stop their attacks against Israelis.
All this being said, Miles, no one expects a major breakthrough coming out of this meeting, but perhaps some progress. One official saying, perhaps a sign the road map is now on the road. Big announcements about what exactly the next steps will be for both sides, both sides say, likely to come next week in Jordan -- Miles. O'BRIEN: Even baby steps, I suppose, will be welcomed. Kelly Wallace, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
