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Suicide Bombings Cause Delay in Bush Middle East Announcement
Aired June 19, 2002 - 14:02 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: Today, the second suicide bombing in Jerusalem in as many days.
Police say a bomber set off a blast near a crowded bus stop, killing as many as seven people now. This comes as Israeli troops moved into several West Bank towns.
For the latest, we go to CNN's chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour. Once again, she's in Jerusalem -- Christiane.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the latest officials confirmed is that the number of dead is at -- is seven. That means seven Israelis have been killed in addition to the Palestinian suicide bomber. 37 people have been wounded, according to police and hospital sources, and five, or several, of those people are in critical condition still.
Now, the al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the militant offshoot connected to Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization, has claimed responsibility.
This suicide bombing happened in the northeast part of Jerusalem in a neighborhood called French Hill, a Jewish neighborhood, and it is not the first time there have been attacks there.
According to the police, what happened was that there was a suspicious looking person. The border police approached this person who then detonated the explosives near a bus stop in that area.
We talked to Israeli government spokesmen here in the last half- an-hour who says that since today's attack is the second in two days and it comes right after Israel has announced a major policy shift, we can expect some stiff Israeli reaction.
Israel has now decided to reoccupy -- essentially go in and hold Palestinian land -- until terrorism stops. Every time there is a terrorist attack, Israel plans to go in and take more territory.
And the spokesman tonight told us that logic would dictate that we could see more Israeli incursions into Palestinian territory in the West Bank and, perhaps, even into the Gaza Strip overnight.
So while we await to see whether the death toll and the injury toll climbs, we also await to see the reaction from the Israeli government. This also comes at a time when there was some kind of talk in the air about a potential political track being restarted. United States President George Bush was due to deliver a speech in which many people anticipated that he would outline a proposal for a provisional, an interim Palestinian state.
The Israeli government, particularly the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, in any event, has been opposed, or at least publicly opposed, to any creation of a provisional Palestinian state at this time. And it appears that the White House has now said that President Bush is going to indefinitely put off such a speech.
Palestinian minister tonight said that he regretted any putting off of such a speech, because that gives in to the extremists on the Palestinian side, and that the extremists, essentially, are setting the agenda.
Back to you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Christiane Amanpour, thank you so much.
Well, the latest bombing comes as the White House considers whether to send Secretary of State Colin Powell back to that region.
Also, the White House has put President Bush's speech on the Middle East on hold.
Joining us now is CNN senior White House correspondent John King, with more on that -- John.
JOHN KING, SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, and as a result of the president's speech being on hold, any plans for a trip by Secretary Powell also are on hold.
That trip is envisioned as a possibility in the follow-up stage to the president laying out his new framework for how he believes the Israelis and the Palestinians should move forward. The White House acknowledging today, though, that the president is going to hold that speech, at least for a day or two, because, the White House press secretary says -- Ari Fleischer says the president wants to deliver it at a time of maximum impact, at a point where he can make maximum progress, and that certainly in the wake of the second deadly bombing in two days, it is not the right moment to do so.
The White House also saying that while Israel has the right to defend itself, it hopes the reoccupation of lands in the West Bank will be limited. The White House saying Israel should keep in mind that there must be a political dialogue down the road.
Now the question came up at the briefing, how long will the president wait? Will he be, if you will, held hostage if there are bombings in the days in the future. Ari Fleischer saying absolutely not, that the president will speak soon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECT.: Terrorist put everybody at hostage. The terrorists who carry out these acts are determined to stop a peace process from taking place, and the president will not let that happen.
The president is determined to follow through, to focus on the long-term, which is seeing through the attacks and helping Israel and the Palestinian people and the Arab nations achieve a peaceful settlement to these issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: The bombings only reconvincing Israel, if it needed to be convinced any more, that Mr. Bush should not hold out the prospect in that speech of a temporary or provisional Palestinian state. Some in the administration also worrying about that, that if Mr. Bush outlines that in his vision, would he be rewarding Yasser Arafat for terrorism?
The White House saying the president hopes to make his remarks in the next several days. White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer also saying that, like Israel, this administration believes Mr. Arafat can and should do more to stop these attacks -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Live at the White House. Thanks, John.
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