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Prime Ministers Meet
Aired May 30, 2003 - 13:03 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: Let's go to the road to peace in the Middle East now. Signs of progress between Israelis and Palestinians. Two prime ministers met overnight, and judging from the reviews, both sides are focused on the positive, ahead of next week's summit with President Bush.
CNN's Kelly Wallace in Jerusalem to bring us up to date on where they are on that road to peace. When we last talked, we were talking about baby steps. Have they even started the baby steps yet, Kelly?
KELLY WALLACE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, there are some baby steps that both sides seem to be taking, and there is a great deal going on behind the scenes now, and that is because you have two high level U.S. Middle East envoys in the region, working with the Israelis and the Palestinians on the statements, which will come out of next week's summit with President Bush.
And in those statements, both sides under a lot of pressure to show that this road map for Middle East peace is now formally being implemented. As for the talks last night, no breakthrough, but signs that both sides felt the atmosphere was very positive. And also, some agreement on a number of goodwill gestures.
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, telling the Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas he would take some steps, such as today, lifting current ban on Palestinian access into Israel from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
And also releasing two Palestinian prisoners, including a man held in an Israeli jail since 1976. The prime minister also offered to pull Israeli troops from the center of West Bank towns and from the northern Gaza Strip if the Palestinians feel they are ready and willing to take charge of security in those areas.
But Palestinian sources tell us that the prime minister told Prime Minister Sharon he needs to see the Israelis do much more, including ending military operations in the Palestinian territories, and ending what Palestinians call assassinations -- Israelis call the targeted killings -- of members of radical Palestinian groups.
And here is where the biggest gap remains, just how to reign in these radical groups responsible for attacks against Israelis, because the prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, told Mr. Sharon he could possibly achieve a cease-fire with groups such as Hamas as early as next week, but the Israelis are saying a cease-fire is unacceptable. They went a full dismantling of these groups -- Miles. O'BRIEN: That's a tall order. It presumes that the Palestinian Authority has a lot of control over its people, perhaps more than it really does. That's kind of the rub, isn't it?
WALLACE: That is the rub, exactly. And Mahmoud Abbas, Miles, right now does not have a strong political backing within the Palestinian community. So what he needs, some goodwill gestures, some moves by the Israelis, so that he can have the backing of the Palestinian people and can have the Palestinian people also putting pressure on groups like Hamas, urging them to stop their attacks. That's what the Palestinian prime minister is hoping for. Again, the Israelis want to see him do much, much more and do it now -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Need a little help from the grass roots there. Kelly Wallace, Jerusalem. 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 30, 2003 - 13:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go to the road to peace in the Middle East now. Signs of progress between Israelis and Palestinians. Two prime ministers met overnight, and judging from the reviews, both sides are focused on the positive, ahead of next week's summit with President Bush.
CNN's Kelly Wallace in Jerusalem to bring us up to date on where they are on that road to peace. When we last talked, we were talking about baby steps. Have they even started the baby steps yet, Kelly?
KELLY WALLACE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, there are some baby steps that both sides seem to be taking, and there is a great deal going on behind the scenes now, and that is because you have two high level U.S. Middle East envoys in the region, working with the Israelis and the Palestinians on the statements, which will come out of next week's summit with President Bush.
And in those statements, both sides under a lot of pressure to show that this road map for Middle East peace is now formally being implemented. As for the talks last night, no breakthrough, but signs that both sides felt the atmosphere was very positive. And also, some agreement on a number of goodwill gestures.
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, telling the Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas he would take some steps, such as today, lifting current ban on Palestinian access into Israel from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
And also releasing two Palestinian prisoners, including a man held in an Israeli jail since 1976. The prime minister also offered to pull Israeli troops from the center of West Bank towns and from the northern Gaza Strip if the Palestinians feel they are ready and willing to take charge of security in those areas.
But Palestinian sources tell us that the prime minister told Prime Minister Sharon he needs to see the Israelis do much more, including ending military operations in the Palestinian territories, and ending what Palestinians call assassinations -- Israelis call the targeted killings -- of members of radical Palestinian groups.
And here is where the biggest gap remains, just how to reign in these radical groups responsible for attacks against Israelis, because the prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, told Mr. Sharon he could possibly achieve a cease-fire with groups such as Hamas as early as next week, but the Israelis are saying a cease-fire is unacceptable. They went a full dismantling of these groups -- Miles. O'BRIEN: That's a tall order. It presumes that the Palestinian Authority has a lot of control over its people, perhaps more than it really does. That's kind of the rub, isn't it?
WALLACE: That is the rub, exactly. And Mahmoud Abbas, Miles, right now does not have a strong political backing within the Palestinian community. So what he needs, some goodwill gestures, some moves by the Israelis, so that he can have the backing of the Palestinian people and can have the Palestinian people also putting pressure on groups like Hamas, urging them to stop their attacks. That's what the Palestinian prime minister is hoping for. Again, the Israelis want to see him do much, much more and do it now -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Need a little help from the grass roots there. Kelly Wallace, Jerusalem. 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
