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American Morning

Interview with Richard Murphy, Former Ambassador to Syria

Aired April 16, 2002 - 07:10   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, we're going to move back to the search for peace in the Middle East. As we told you, Secretary of State Colin Powell is meeting once again with Ariel Sharon today and plans to see Yasser Arafat for a second time tomorrow. Sharon says within the next week, Israel will put out of Jenin and Nablus in the West Bank, but will remain in Bethlehem and Ramallah. Arafat says there can be no cease-fire without a complete Israeli withdrawal.

Joining us now to talk about Secretary Powell's mission in the Middle East, is Richard Murphy, the former U.S. ambassador to Syria and a senior fellow in the Middle East at the Council on Foreign Relations -- welcome back.

RICHARD MURPHY, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SYRIA: Thank you.

ZAHN: First of all, what do you make of this phone conversation that took place between Prime Minister Sharon yesterday and President Bush, where the prime minister essential said, we are going to leave our troops in Bethlehem and Ramallah for a while?

MURPHY: Well, the prime minister is sticking to the overall program that he had from the beginning, which was about four weeks of clearing out, clearing up any questions of fugitives in these major cities. ZAHN: So what does that mean in terms of negotiations going any further here?

MURPHY: Well, I think the end is in sight. He said within the week, except for Ramallah and Jenin -- Ramallah and Bethlehem. Now, he may well speed that up given the pressures and given the prestige of our president that's involved in getting this military presence in those cities finished. Then they can look forward to the cease-fire and the beginning of some quick movement. Obviously Secretary Powell hopes for a quick movement towards negotiations.

ZAHN: You talk about the prestige of the U.S. president being involved here. Hasn't his administration appeared to be weak and Prime Minister Sharon not heeding this call?

MURPHY: Well, it might have been better at the beginning to have had an understanding with Sharon about just why he couldn't make a quick exit from those cities. But...

ZAHN: And not made those demands publicly perhaps? MURPHY: And not made the demands publicly until he had some assurance about when Sharon would be moving out. It's -- yes, in the Arab world, they say it has damaged our credibility. It also has strengthened the argument of Israel that it is its own boss on issues of vital national interest to Israelis.

ZAHN: What do you think Colin Powell accomplished in his trips yesterday to Lebanon and Syria?

MURPHY: I hope that he, and I believe that he did cap for the moment the danger of this conflagration spreading. There is no interest on the part of the governments in Lebanon and Syria, and interestingly Iran, apparently in Iran as well, in letting this get out of hand. The Iranian foreign minister was there about three days before Colin Powell, and said don't play into the Israeli hands by having this catch fire in the border area, and because they don't want to spread the war.

So his voice has apparently been added to the other governments saying to Hezbollah, cool it down. And Powell got apparently from President Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus an undertaking to talk to Hezbollah about the whole issue of violence in the border area.

ZAHN: Help us understand this morning the challenge the administration has as they go down this track of trying to help solve this crisis in the Middle East, and also build support for a potential fight in Iraq down the road. Which of those two is the priority at this hour?

MURPHY: Well, I haven't thought that the fight against Iraq was tomorrow's business. There is obviously a great deal of preparation if we're going to go ahead with that. Several months are going to be required. But what has been going on in the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation has certainly complicated the response that we hope to get, a more positive response from the Arab world and from the region generally. Turkey has been very critical of Israel in the recent days as well. So we need support of some type from those several countries.

ZAHN: Do you consider Saudi Arabia a friend?

MURPHY: I do. I mean, I don't like this discussion, is it a friend or a foe. It's got its interests, we have our interests, and in many important areas they coincide.

ZAHN: Let me read for you this morning something that the Saudi ambassador to Britain, who is a well-known poet in the Arab world, has recently written. And we're going to put part of this up on the screen now: "Tell Ayat, the bride of loftiness...She embraced death with a smile, while the leaders are running away from death. Doors of heaven are opened for her." He goes on to say, "We complain to the idols of the White House whose heart is filled with darkness."

What does this reflect to you?

MURPHY: Well, it's a very powerful message, particularly since this is the fourth young woman to commit suicide in this manner. And she has coupled that with a statement about Arab governments who have not been active for the sake of the Palestinian people -- very humiliating to the Arab male.

And these are young women, as best I can tell, who have no particularly deep interest in either religion or politics, but have reacted to this daily grind of humiliation that has been their lot under occupation these many years.

ZAHN: But this is a major ambassador, a representative of Saudi Arabia making these comments or writing this stuff, at the same time we know its own government, his own government sponsored a Saudi telethon raising $100 million, not only for the Palestinians, but obviously for the families of these suicide bombers.

MURPHY: Well, they have raised money from the beginning, Paula, for the families of victims that were wounded or killed in the confrontation ever since September 28 of 2000.

ZAHN: Sure.

MURPHY: They haven't singled out these suicide bombers to exclude them or to favor them. They also have noted that the families of the suicide bombers didn't know they were going to do this. This was a secret between the individual and the sponsoring organization, such as Hamas or Islamic jihad. So I think the Saudi attitude of the government is the families deserve some support as much as families of those who were wounded or killed totally accidentally in the confrontation.

ZAHN: Well, we appreciate your covering so much territory with us this morning -- always good of you to join us.

MURPHY: Thank you -- my pleasure.

ZAHN: Richard Murphy, former U.S. ambassador to Syria and now, of course, a representative on the Council of Foreign Relations.

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