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American Morning

Powell to Hold Third Meeting with Sharon

Aired April 16, 2002 - 08:02   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: "Up Front" this morning, Secretary of State Colin Powell says that he has made some progress in his mission to end the violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Tomorrow he will see Yasser Arafat. This morning Powell is meeting for the third time with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Both Israeli and U.S. sources say that withdrawal from the West Bank is definitely on the agenda. Some of it not expected to happen for a week or so.

And Wolf Blitzer is live in Jerusalem with the very latest on all of that -- good morning, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

That meeting will begin in about a half an hour or so here in Jerusalem. The prime minister of Israel, the secretary of state of the United States meeting for the third time since Powell arrived in this part of the world sets the stage for tomorrow's meeting between Powell and Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian Authority president. That meeting will be in Ramallah, the second meeting those two men will have had.

Earlier today, the secretary met with some Israeli members of parliament as well as with some Palestinian community leaders and Secretary Powell seemed to sound a little bit more upbeat, saying he's making some progress, moving in the right direction, although some of his aides and some Israeli and Palestinian sources are suggesting that it's unclear what, if anything, he might be able to achieve. His immediate goal, of course, has been to achieve a cease-fire between the Israelis and the Palestinians. That seems to be a rather difficult chore given the animosity, the passions that have been generated over these past few weeks.

One of the complicating factors as far as the Palestinians are concerned was Israel's move yesterday to arrest a man named Marwan Barghouti. He's the secretary general of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, his main political movement. Marwan Barghouti often in years past having been cited as someone potentially to emerge as a successor, perhaps, even to Yasser Arafat. The Israelis insist he's nothing more than, or less, than a terrorist. They say that he's been sponsoring some of those suicide bombing operations against Israeli civilians. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade is affiliated with the Fatah movement and that Marwan Barghouti personally was responsible for that. The Israelis are taking credit for that arrest yesterday, saying it's a huge deal, one that they're very proud of. The Palestinians, on the other hand, are saying it's a disaster because they see Barghouti largely as a top aide to Arafat and a potential political leader -- Paula.

ZAHN: Wolf, let's move this along and operate under the assumption that perhaps some sort of peace conference will be held. The Israelis have made it abundantly clear they would not attend it if Arafat was there.

How personal has it become between those two men?

BLITZER: I think it's very personal. I think that from Sharon's perspective, he disdains, I think it's fair to say he hates Yasser Arafat. There is a long history there. Long before he expelled, as Israel's defense minister in 1982, Arafat and his PLO forces from Beirut. But going back to the 70's when he personally believes that Yasser Arafat was engaged in terrorist actions against Israeli civilians around the world. And Arafat, from his perspective, I'm sure hates Ariel Sharon, as well.

Having said that, until about 18 months or so ago, both men seemed to be willing to meet, to have some sort of relationship, given their own political problems. They spoke on the phone twice, although Sharon made a point of always refusing to shake hands with Yasser Arafat when they got together at various meetings with other Israeli officials.

So there is a deep history of hatred between these two men and there are a lot of Israelis and a lot of Palestinians, and I've spoken to them over these past few days since I've been here, who believe that as long as these two men lead their respective communities, there'll never be a deal.

ZAHN: Kind of depressing to hear that this morning.

All right, Wolf, appreciate that live update. See you in our next hour, as well.

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