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President Bush Promotes Road Map to Peace in Middle East
Aired June 04, 2003 - 15:03 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.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Well now we want to turn to the major news overseas: President Bush's Middle East peace summit. Mr. Bush joined Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas today for a summit hosted by Jordan's King Abdullah. The leaders discussed the U.S.-backed road map for peace in the region, and Mr. Bush won promises of cooperation from both sides.
CNN's John King has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dramatic first steps toward reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. And the president voiced hope this time it will reach the end of the road.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All here today now share a goal. The holy land must be shared between the state of Palestine and the state of Israel.
KING: Both the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers embraced the president's so-called road map for peace and pledged at this summit to meet its immediate test. Prime Minister Sharon's promises include quickly dismantling settlements built since March 2001 and support for a provisional Palestinian state, which would require a significant Israeli military pullback. But he also made clear his skepticism.
ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: There can be no peace, however, without the abandonment and elimination of terrorism, violence and incitement.
KING: Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas promised aggressive efforts to end violence against Israelis and urged militants to lay down their arms and renounce violence.
MAHMOUD ABBAS, PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We will accept all of our efforts using all our resources to end the militarization of the intifadah, and we will succeed.
KING: Summits are carefully scripted, though not every handshake is picture perfect. Mr. Bush hopes the summit lifts Mr. Abbas' standing back home, and the White House wants help from Jordan's King Abdullah and other Arab leaders in making the case, Mr. Abbas, not Yasser Arafat, is the man who can deliver a Palestinian state. All on hand in Jordan know the more difficult road map challenges comes later. An Israeli pullback to September 2000 lines, more Palestinian political and security reforms, and an independent Palestine by 2005. Mr. Bush will send a new Mideast envoy immediately and says National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice will be his personal representative in the peace process.
BUSH: And we expect both parties to keep their promises.
KING: Keeping those promises will require a trust not evident when the summit began, when the two prime ministers refused a request to shake hands. But there was a quick handshake later, and it had been two and a half years since the United States was in the middle of Middle East peacekeeping. So the president left convinced peace is a possibility.
(on camera): Upbeat after the summit talks, the president told reporters he believes there's an opening for peace now because both sides are "sick and tired of death." But the president also said it is critical that the Israelis and Palestinians deliver on their summit promises within days. Or, as Mr. Bush put it, "the trust is going to come from performance."
John King, CNN, Aqaba, Jordan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF: While the Palestinian and Israeli leaders ended those meetings on a note of optimism in Jordan, the response to their summit among the people they represent has been mixed. CNN's Kelly Wallace is with me now from Jerusalem with more on the public reaction to the Aqaba summit. Kelly, you have been talking to people; what are they saying?
KELLY WALLACE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, you know one long-time player in this region said no one said it is going to be easy. And that is evident by what we're seeing today and tonight on the streets of Jerusalem at this very hour.
Tens of thousands of Jewish settlers and their supporters voicing their outrage, their opposition to the Mideast road map and their anger that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is calling for the dismantling of what he calls these unauthorized settlements. Many settlers fear this could pave the way for the ultimate evacuation of settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza strip, which is home to more than 200,000 Jewish settlers.
Now, many settlers say if this takes place, that would be an ultimate reward for Palestinian terrorism, so they're trying to send a stern message to Prime Minister Sharon. At the same time, Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, faces a huge challenge of his own, facing angry, radical Palestinian groups who quickly came out and said they reject Mahmoud Abbas' call to lay down their weapons and stop the armed intifadah against Israel.
These groups are saying that Mahmoud Abbas is just facing pressure from Israel and the American administration and that he's not acting on behalf of Palestinian interest. This all being said, though, Judy, we have interviewed a few members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. These are the biggest groups responsible for many suicide bombings against Israelis. And they do say they are considering a possible cease-fire, a possible halt in their attack.
They are facing pressure, Judy, from moderate Arab leaders and also pressure from Palestinians because you're hearing more and more Palestinians now saying, give Mahmoud Abbas a chance, give a cease- fire a chance -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: All right. Kelly Wallace is reporting for us live tonight from Jerusalem. Thank you very much, Kelly.
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 4, 2003 - 15:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Well now we want to turn to the major news overseas: President Bush's Middle East peace summit. Mr. Bush joined Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas today for a summit hosted by Jordan's King Abdullah. The leaders discussed the U.S.-backed road map for peace in the region, and Mr. Bush won promises of cooperation from both sides.
CNN's John King has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dramatic first steps toward reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. And the president voiced hope this time it will reach the end of the road.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All here today now share a goal. The holy land must be shared between the state of Palestine and the state of Israel.
KING: Both the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers embraced the president's so-called road map for peace and pledged at this summit to meet its immediate test. Prime Minister Sharon's promises include quickly dismantling settlements built since March 2001 and support for a provisional Palestinian state, which would require a significant Israeli military pullback. But he also made clear his skepticism.
ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: There can be no peace, however, without the abandonment and elimination of terrorism, violence and incitement.
KING: Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas promised aggressive efforts to end violence against Israelis and urged militants to lay down their arms and renounce violence.
MAHMOUD ABBAS, PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We will accept all of our efforts using all our resources to end the militarization of the intifadah, and we will succeed.
KING: Summits are carefully scripted, though not every handshake is picture perfect. Mr. Bush hopes the summit lifts Mr. Abbas' standing back home, and the White House wants help from Jordan's King Abdullah and other Arab leaders in making the case, Mr. Abbas, not Yasser Arafat, is the man who can deliver a Palestinian state. All on hand in Jordan know the more difficult road map challenges comes later. An Israeli pullback to September 2000 lines, more Palestinian political and security reforms, and an independent Palestine by 2005. Mr. Bush will send a new Mideast envoy immediately and says National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice will be his personal representative in the peace process.
BUSH: And we expect both parties to keep their promises.
KING: Keeping those promises will require a trust not evident when the summit began, when the two prime ministers refused a request to shake hands. But there was a quick handshake later, and it had been two and a half years since the United States was in the middle of Middle East peacekeeping. So the president left convinced peace is a possibility.
(on camera): Upbeat after the summit talks, the president told reporters he believes there's an opening for peace now because both sides are "sick and tired of death." But the president also said it is critical that the Israelis and Palestinians deliver on their summit promises within days. Or, as Mr. Bush put it, "the trust is going to come from performance."
John King, CNN, Aqaba, Jordan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOODRUFF: While the Palestinian and Israeli leaders ended those meetings on a note of optimism in Jordan, the response to their summit among the people they represent has been mixed. CNN's Kelly Wallace is with me now from Jerusalem with more on the public reaction to the Aqaba summit. Kelly, you have been talking to people; what are they saying?
KELLY WALLACE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, you know one long-time player in this region said no one said it is going to be easy. And that is evident by what we're seeing today and tonight on the streets of Jerusalem at this very hour.
Tens of thousands of Jewish settlers and their supporters voicing their outrage, their opposition to the Mideast road map and their anger that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is calling for the dismantling of what he calls these unauthorized settlements. Many settlers fear this could pave the way for the ultimate evacuation of settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza strip, which is home to more than 200,000 Jewish settlers.
Now, many settlers say if this takes place, that would be an ultimate reward for Palestinian terrorism, so they're trying to send a stern message to Prime Minister Sharon. At the same time, Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, faces a huge challenge of his own, facing angry, radical Palestinian groups who quickly came out and said they reject Mahmoud Abbas' call to lay down their weapons and stop the armed intifadah against Israel.
These groups are saying that Mahmoud Abbas is just facing pressure from Israel and the American administration and that he's not acting on behalf of Palestinian interest. This all being said, though, Judy, we have interviewed a few members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. These are the biggest groups responsible for many suicide bombings against Israelis. And they do say they are considering a possible cease-fire, a possible halt in their attack.
They are facing pressure, Judy, from moderate Arab leaders and also pressure from Palestinians because you're hearing more and more Palestinians now saying, give Mahmoud Abbas a chance, give a cease- fire a chance -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: All right. Kelly Wallace is reporting for us live tonight from Jerusalem. Thank you very much, Kelly.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
