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Bush Lands in Egypt
Aired June 02, 2003 - 14:12 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: Coming back to earth, we turn our attention now to President Bush on a mission to mend fences and make peace in the Mideast. Mr. Bush spent 25 minutes meeting with French President Jacques Chirac this morning in Evian, France. Afterward, the president said, it's time to move on. He was referring to U.S.- French relations.
But then Mr. Bush did move on, quite literally, leaving behind the G-8 summit. He is now on the ground in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt. We also showed you that live just a few moments ago. CNN's Mike Hanna is there with the latest on the summits that lie ahead. Hello, Mike.
MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hello there, Miles. The U.S. president is about to personally leap into the turbulent waters of Middle East diplomacy. He touched down in a resort town Sharm el- Sheik a short while ago, was greeted at the airport by his host, Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak. He will meet with Mr. Mubarak in a one-on-one meeting tomorrow morning. And after that there will be a summit meeting with a number of leaders of Arab nations as well as the Palestinian foreign minister, Mahmoud Abbas.
This an absolutely critical few days in attempts to resolve the ongoing Israeli Palestinian conflict. Mr. Bush will be seeking from Arab nations the assurance that they fully back the implementation of the road map, and the Arab nations will be looking to the U.S. president for the assurance that he, too, will back this implementation of the road map until it's very end. And the very end of the road map, as it stands is the establishment of a Palestinian state within a three-year period, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Mike, conspicuous for his absence in all of this, Yasser Arafat. Where does he fit into the picture?
HANNA: Well, it's a very interesting question. The U.S. and the Israelis will have nothing to do with Yasser Arafat. The Israelis describe him as irrelevant. Not so, the Palestinians. This is what Free Palestinian Parliament foreign minister had to say today on the subject.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NABIL SHA'ATH, PALESTINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: There is no meeting that takes place without the Palestinian side explaining clearly that our elected president, President Arafat, must be free, must be released, must be protected.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HANNA: So, clearly, there, full Palestinian support, public support, at least, for Yasser Arafat. The U.S. and the Israelis want to wish him away, but it does appear that if any agreements are reached, ultimately it will be Yasser Arafat who has to give his stamp of approval on any agreement, Miles.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Mike Hanna, Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt. Thank you very much. He'll be watching that for us.
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 June 2, 2003 - 14:12 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Coming back to earth, we turn our attention now to President Bush on a mission to mend fences and make peace in the Mideast. Mr. Bush spent 25 minutes meeting with French President Jacques Chirac this morning in Evian, France. Afterward, the president said, it's time to move on. He was referring to U.S.- French relations.
But then Mr. Bush did move on, quite literally, leaving behind the G-8 summit. He is now on the ground in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt. We also showed you that live just a few moments ago. CNN's Mike Hanna is there with the latest on the summits that lie ahead. Hello, Mike.
MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hello there, Miles. The U.S. president is about to personally leap into the turbulent waters of Middle East diplomacy. He touched down in a resort town Sharm el- Sheik a short while ago, was greeted at the airport by his host, Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak. He will meet with Mr. Mubarak in a one-on-one meeting tomorrow morning. And after that there will be a summit meeting with a number of leaders of Arab nations as well as the Palestinian foreign minister, Mahmoud Abbas.
This an absolutely critical few days in attempts to resolve the ongoing Israeli Palestinian conflict. Mr. Bush will be seeking from Arab nations the assurance that they fully back the implementation of the road map, and the Arab nations will be looking to the U.S. president for the assurance that he, too, will back this implementation of the road map until it's very end. And the very end of the road map, as it stands is the establishment of a Palestinian state within a three-year period, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Mike, conspicuous for his absence in all of this, Yasser Arafat. Where does he fit into the picture?
HANNA: Well, it's a very interesting question. The U.S. and the Israelis will have nothing to do with Yasser Arafat. The Israelis describe him as irrelevant. Not so, the Palestinians. This is what Free Palestinian Parliament foreign minister had to say today on the subject.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NABIL SHA'ATH, PALESTINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: There is no meeting that takes place without the Palestinian side explaining clearly that our elected president, President Arafat, must be free, must be released, must be protected.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HANNA: So, clearly, there, full Palestinian support, public support, at least, for Yasser Arafat. The U.S. and the Israelis want to wish him away, but it does appear that if any agreements are reached, ultimately it will be Yasser Arafat who has to give his stamp of approval on any agreement, Miles.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Mike Hanna, Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt. Thank you very much. He'll be watching that for us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
