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American Morning

Hamas Calls For End of Suicide, Mortar Attacks On Israel

Aired December 21, 2001 - 09:19   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now on to the Middle East where the militant group called Hamas made a surprise pledge just hours ago. Under pressure from the Palestinian Authority, Hamas leaders have decided to call for an end to suicide bombings, like this attack at the beginning of the month. CNN's Chris Burns is in Jerusalem this morning to tell us what the announcement may mean for the region and, more importantly, give us some insights as to how Israelis are reacting to this announcement. Good morning, Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. Well, Hamas is the group that has staged, or at least, claimed responsibility for most of these militant attacks in recent weeks that have left dozens of Israelis dead within Israel and also in the West Bank, and Hamas came across with this very brief statement, but very important statement, saying that they calling for an end, a suspension, anyway, to martyrdom attacks. That's their reference to suicide attacks within Israel, and also an end to mortar attacks throughout not only Israel, but also the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Now, this comes as there are protests today in the Gaza Strip, very violent protests, between Palestinian authority police and supporters of militant groups. Those protests have left some 50 injured, and at least two dead. This came during a funeral for an Islamic Jihad activist who was killed the day before as the Palestinian Authority police tried to arrest a member -- a founding member -- of the Hamas group. So this pointing to the dangers that the Palestinian Authority and its leader, Yasser Arafat face in trying to crackdown on these militants, perhaps even pointing to a possible civil war, and that's why we saw this something -- some kind of arrangement where the Hamas has agreed to stop these attacks.

However, this obviously is not going to make the Israelis happy because it does indicate they will continue their activities in the occupied territories. The Israeli government saying that they will continue to fight terrorism, the more moderate foreign minister, Shimon Peres, saying that he's going to wait and see what happens on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHIMON PERES, ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER: Obviously, I feel glad for them by their acts (ph). I must say that tonight the Palestinian Authority started, really, to act more serious here. I hope it will continue and really bring the cease-fire. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNS: The Palestinian Authority is saying while they've welcomed this as a very positive step in response to Arafat's crackdown on militants, but also calling on the Israelis to stop their -- or at least pull back on their activities in the Occupied Territories, and also calling on the Americans to get more active in bringing about this mediation that calls -- the Mitchell report by the U.S., that calls not only for an end to militant activity, but also a freezing of Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank -- Paula.

ZAHN: Awful lot for all of us to absorb here. Chris Burns, thanks so much for that update, and I must say your picture is quite stunning today. That sunset is magnificent.

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