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American Morning

America's New War: Bush Meets with King Abdullah; Israel Peace Process Shocked Back into Action

Aired September 28, 2001 - 12:12   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.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: As part of ongoing effort at the White House to shore up the alliance, to shore up coalitions, support for whatever steps the United States takes, the president, President Bush, was meeting today at the White House with Jordan's King Abdullah.

CNN's White House correspondent Kelly Wallace joining us to tell us about what they discussed --- Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, this the president's meeting with the 11th world leader, and foreign minister to come to the White House over the past two weeks. This meeting very, very important, as the president tries to reach out to moderate Arab nations and build this coalition. At the same time, though, the president talking very tough terms to Afghanistan's ruling Taliban.

Now King Abdullah of Jordan left the White House just a short time ago. The two men sitting in the Oval Office before reporters. The president presenting the king the pen which he used to sign into law today the U.S. Jordan free trade agreement. The Jordanian king pledging full and unequivocal support with the U.S. in this fight against terrorism, but the president reiterating a message he has been sending almost daily to the Taliban. He said, it's time for actions, not words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is no negotiations with the Taliban. They heard what I said. And now they can act. And it's not just Mr. bin Laden that we expect to see and brought to justice. It's everybody associated with his organization that is in Afghanistan. And not only those directly associated with Mr. bin Laden, any terrorist that is housed and fed in Afghanistan needs to be handed over. And finally, we expect there to be complete destruction of terrorist camps. That's what I told them; that's what I mean.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And another message coming from President Bush, another message we have heard from him almost daily, which that is that this is a campaign against terrorists, and those who harbor them, not against Islam and not against Muslim nations, an important message to get out during this visit by King Abdullah, and it is a message that was echoed by the Jordanian king.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING ABDULLAH, JORDAN: What these people stand for is completely against all the principles that Arabs and Muslims believe in, and so, on those principles alone, I think it will be very, very easy for people to stand together. As the president said, this is a fight against evil. And the majority of Arabs and Muslims will band together with our colleagues all over the world to be able to put an end to this horrible scourge of international terrorism, and you will see a united front.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And the king saying, a united front. He has also though expressed some concern, wanting to make sure that any response to the September 11th attacks is a measured response, that it does not exacerbate tensions which currently exist in Middle East, and that it does not lead to a wider conflict on the world stage.

Judy, back to you.

WOODRUFF: Kelly, and we are confident that among other things, they did discuss what is going on in the Middle East. And for more on that, back to Aaron.

AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you.

We heard an experienced diplomat opine last night, that maybe one good thing to come out of this horrible series of events that have gone on since September 11th is that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process might in fact be shocked back into action.

We turn to our Jerusalem bureau chief Mike Hanna now -- Mike.

MIKE HANNA, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well,thank you very much, Aaron.

Twelve months ago today saw the beginning of the intifada, an ongoing conflict between Palestinians and Israelis that has cost some 600 Palestinian lives, nearly 180 Israelis killed in the past 12 months. The occasion was marked, the anniversary, by widespread demonstrations, in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank, tens of thousands of Palestinians remembering the beginning of this intifada, or popular uprising, as they would put it, and still, violence continuing on this day. At least three Palestinians were shot by Israeli forces and killed during the demonstrations. Widespread conflict, as various clashes in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.

In the place where the intifada began, well, that is where many believe it began. That is the old city of Jerusalem. It was relatively peaceful today. It was on the 28th of September that fighting broke out, at the Haram Al-Sharif, as Palestinians and Arabs call it, the Temple Mount, as Israelis call it. And there today, the Israelis had strong security measures enforced. They would only allow Palestinians holding Israeli identity cards to attend the weekly prayers at the Haram Al-Sharif. Nobody over the age of 40 allowed in. A stringent closure being imposed on the Palestinian areas around Israel proper.

Also, in the course of the day, there were several -- the closure was still strictly enforced, this despite a cease-fire agreement which was reached earlier in the week, when the Israeli prime minister -- the Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres held a meeting with the Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat. They agreed under immense U.S. pressure to come to a cease-fire. They are discussing ways in which this cease-fire can be implemented.

And despite the ongoing violence today, one bright sign, Aaron, was that security officials from both sides met. They held long, lengthy conversation. In the course of the day, several measures have been agreed on. Israel says it will lift some of the stringent closures which restrict the ease of Palestinian movement. Palestinians say that they will attempt to stop ongoing attacks against Israelis.

So despite the fact at least three Palestinians died in the course of the day, the cease-fire, at least, does still seem alive. Both sides remain committed to that cease-fire, and both sides say that they are going to do everything in their power to ensure that it is implemented on the ground, Aaron.

BROWN: A couple of things, I guess.

In introducing you, I said that this diplomat had opined that there was some hope that the shock of September 11th might actually turn out to be helpful in the peace process there. Are you seeing signs of that, that it is a reaction to September 11 that is moving things along? Very much indeed, Aaron. Those events on September 11th seem to have focused the minds of the leaders in this region. There have been numerous cease-fires announced during the past 12 months of conflict. Each of them has lasted a matter of days. Sometimes only a matter of hours.

HANNA: But there is a real sense this side in statements from both sides, Palestinians and Israelis, that in this particular occasion, they want the cease-fire to work. They have heard what have been repeated demands, amounting to an ultimatum from the United States: Get to the negotiating table, stop the conflict, the conflict in that region is a stumbling block to American efforts to form an international coalition against terror, you are in the way in term of these efforts, your conflict is in the way, get back to the negotiating table, start talking, stop the conflict on the ground, and it does really appear that in the last week or so, this message has been heard very, very loudly by leaders in the region. And most importantly, it does appear from public statements that the message is being acted on, Aaron.

BROWN: And I know you have done this, when you read the Mitchell Report or you look at the report that the CIA director put out, they always talk in terms of confidence building on both sides, that both sides need to have some confidence that the other will actually do what they say they will do. The cease-fire is the first, and I would imagine the most crucial step in confidence building.

HANNA: Very much so, because it's only within the terms of a relative aura of peace that full confidence measures can begin to be implemented. The stick point each particular time has been the inability of each side to make that huge leap, to allow these confidence-building measures to begin. The Israelis have said that they cannot ease the closure, because the Palestinian attacks continue. The Palestinians say they cannot stop these attacks because they are prevented so from doing so by the closure. Each side has been all too ready with excuses, as to why they cannot put into effect the commitments that they have agreed to at the negotiating table.

At this particular stage, though, both sides are absolutely adamant that they are going to introduce these steps, and as you say, the most important thing to happen first of all, is for the violence to stop, or at least the violence to diminish, in order for the subsequent confidence-building measures, as you put them, the slow process in which each side can regain a trust in each other, can begin to be put into place, to slow a painstaking process, but the process can only begin when that first step is crossed, and that step is to end the violence on the ground, Aaron.

BROWN: Mike, thanks. Mike Hanna, our Jerusalem bureau chief, with us this afternoon.

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