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American Morning

Alleged 'Collaborators' Shot in Ramallah

Aired April 23, 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, tensions are high as Israelis and Palestinians continue to face off in two locations. In Bethlehem today, as we said, negotiators from both sides are meeting face to face, trying for a peaceful solution to the stand-off at the Church of the Nativity. And in Ramallah, Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat remains under house arrest, with Israeli forces surrounding his compound. But after Israeli tanks pulled out of the center of Ramallah, there was a startling incident, as Palestinians confronted Palestinians.

CNN's Nic Robertson was there with the one of only camera crew around. We must warn you that some of the scenes you are about to see are graphic and disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One dead and one barely alive, two Palestinians lie sprawled on the ground where they were shot in downtown Ramallah. A few feet away, amidst a growing crowd, a third man wounded in the same shooting waves for help. No one steps forward.

Angry onlookers resist the Palestinian ambulance crew, which tried to come to the aid of the two survivors. Most news organizations prevented by the crowd from videotaping. On the ground in the crowd, CNN sees people shouting at and hitting the wounded as they're taken away.

Witnesses say the three men were driven to this busy intersection, two locked in the trunk of the car. They were taken out of the car by three gunmen one at a time and shot multiple times in the legs at close range with an automatic assault rifle.

This man says he saw it all. "One gunman shouted, 'I've known him since 1987 and he's a collaborator,' then he drove off."

The object lesson in loyalty receiving mixed reaction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this is good because it's working with the Jews (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's not a civilized way but, you know, it's the anger of the people. It's one of the consequences of the crime of state of Israeli ROBERTSON (on camera): Whether people here agree or disagree with these shootings, there is a fear among many that events are beyond the control of the Palestinian Authority. These type of executions are reminiscent for many of the days before the Palestinian Authority got power.

(voice-over): However, when the Palestinian Authority was clearly in control, one day trials and immediate public executions of alleged collaborators were not uncommon. Still, Palestinian officials quickly condemned the latest shootings, holding the Israeli government responsible.

MUFEED ABID RABO, PALESTINIAN COUNCIL MEMBER: Palestinian security, it's over now because of the Israeli occupation and we need a Palestinian security force to improve our civil life.

ROBERTSON: For many Palestinians, the rubble of the destroyed Palestinian Authority's Preventive Security compound, built with the help of the CIA, is concrete proof not only of an attack on the Authority, but also its ability to function.

JIBRIL RAJOUB, PALESTINIAN PREVENTIVE SECURITY CHIEF: There is no doubt there is a situation of chaos and a security vacuum. We are trying to reorganize ourselves in order to reestablish the rule of law and order.

ROBERTSON: Until law and order is reestablished, few Palestinians expect these shootings to be the last. Palestinian leaders are calling for citizens to act responsibly until authority is restored.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: Paula, what we're seeing in the same area today, we've seen uniformed police officers, who we haven't seen since the Israeli troops withdrawn, we've seen them patrolling the streets there and working at those same traffic intersections. So it appears as if the Palestinian Authority trying to put some sense of their security infrastructure back on the streets -- Paula.

ZAHN: So in the meantime, who's in charge?

ROBERTSON: That's unclear. The Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is still in his compound on the northern edge of Ramallah along with some 200 or so other people. He's contained in that compound because the Israeli authorities won't release him from there until he hands over men they say are responsible for the death of Israel's tourism minister late last year. That's an impasse that hasn't been broken at this time.

The Palestinian negotiators tell us that if the Israelis withdraw from the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's compound, then they are ready to begin to try these men. They say that trial would be open, the detention would be open for inspection by U.S. and European officials. But who has the authority on the ground? It's not clear. There are, as we saw today, there are only a tiny handful of police officers out there and as we were reporting earlier, people are concerned that without that security infrastructure, there's not only the security infrastructure here Palestinians are concerned about, but it's other things like education, other ministries, other authorities that were affected during this occupation period. They're concerned about those, as well.

There's nobody driving the Palestinian community at this time -- Paula.

ZAHN: All right, Nic Robertson, thank you very much for that live update. Glad you got through the coverage of that safely given how volatile things are there right now.

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