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American Morning

The Big Question: Will Israel's Defiance Undercut Colin Powell's Mission?

Aired April 08, 2002 - 08:33   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: Our big question at this hour, will Israel's defiance undercut Colin Powell's mission? Just this morning, in a major speech, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon held out an olive branch to moderate Arab leaders. Sharon also said that he intended to wrap up the military operations in the West Bank as expeditiously as possible, but not immediately.

Let's get the latest now from our own Jerrold Kessel, who's on the ground in Jerusalem.

Good morning, Jerrold.

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Excuse me.

I think less a question of a defiant Israeli prime minister, more a question of Ariel Sharon saying he has the initiative, and he is going to keep it, means to keep it. And first and foremost, with respect to the continuation and the completion, as he said, of his Israeli troops, his mission. That mission to root out Palestinian terror in the Palestinian territories, and this that mission will go on until complete, the prime minister said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The IDF will continue with the operation as quickly as possible, until the mission is completed, until Arafat's terrorist infrastructure is disassembled and until the killers that are hiding in various places, like in the church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, until they're captured.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KESSEL: And that week-long standoff now around the Church of the Nativity, where more than 200 Palestinians, many of them gunmen, militant Palestinians, are holed up with the Israeli army besieging them, only punctuated this morning by a brief exchange of fire, which led to a real fire breaking out there. Two sides trading accusations of who was responsible. One Palestinian policeman shot dead. Two Israeli soldiers wounded in that exchange of fire. The fire itself eventually put out, but the standoff continuing, and this only one of the areas where the Israeli army continues to operate. Still very much a dramatic situation unfolding, as the Palestinian Prime Minister Sharon lays down his markers, and the Palestinians say that he is trying to undercut the Powell mission, even before it's got under way.

All right, Jerrold, we'll leave it there at this hour. Thanks so much for that report. Time to talk business now with Jack.

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