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American Morning
Elusive Peace
Aired July 01, 2003 - 09:32 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The shooting today of a Palestinian gunman is the second attack in less than 24 hours since a temporary cease-fire was announced by Palestinian militants. It came just as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas prepared to meet in Jerusalem today. Could the latest violence, though, affect that summit?
Edward Djerejian, the director of Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, was assistant secretary of state for near east affairs. He joins us now from Houston.
Thank you so much for being with us this morning.
I need to ask you at this point, how hopeful are you about this cease-fire?
EDWARD DJEREJIAN, FMR. ASST. SECY. OF STATE FOR NEAR EAST AFFAIRS: Well, I'm cautiously hopeful, because I think there are three major factors in play here that are different, new and very important. One is, President Bush's personal involvement in the process, as exemplified by the meetings in Aqaba, and in Sharm El- Sheikh. Number two is Mahmoud Abbas, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, is taking a leading and important role in arranging the cease-fire and moving forward on the road map, and the Palestinians have instituted the necessary political and economic reforms, and third, is Prime Minister Sharon's very important statements concerning the need to move forward to negotiate a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.
So the confluence of all these events, plus our military operation in Iraq gives us a new opportunity to move forward.
COLLINS: What about Yasser Arafat? Any concerns that he will stir the pot?
DJEREJIAN: I think he may prove to be troublesome, because he has been, if you will, sort of given an honorary position as president, but Mahmoud Abbas is the prime minister, making the executive decisions.
I think in the long run, he has to take a very careful look. If he sabotages the process, it will become quite transparent that he's done it, and I think that will lead more to his further isolation than anything else.
COLLINS: Do you really have confidence then, that the feeling, at least amongst the Palestinian people, about Mahmoud Abbas is changing? He's been seen as a puppet of the U.S.?
DJEREJIAN: I think his success will be directly linked to the success on the ground between the Israelis and the Palestinians, as we're seeing today. The fact that a cease-fire has been hammered out, there are some radical factions who are still fighting that. Basically, a cease-fire has been hammered out. The fact that there are American monitors there, under Ambassador John Wolf, the fact that the Israelis are beginning to pull out of Gaza and preparing to pull out of Bethlehem, all of these will be very tangible signs to the Palestinian people that under Abbas, progress is being made. So his success is really dependent upon the progress on the ground.
COLLINS: Ambassador Djerejian, do you think there's anything to say about the fact that this meeting between Abbas and Sharon was not canceled after the latest round of violence, and also, that Sharon has not, at least publicly, condemned any of it?
DJEREJIAN: I think there's a very good sign, because it shows strong political will on the part of the Israeli leadership, strong political will on the part of the Palestinian leadership, bolstered by the leadership by the American administration to move forward. The whole name of the game is to move forward and marginalize the extremists, and that's why they're proceeding in the face of these setbacks on the ground.
COLLINS: Ambassador Edward Djerejian, thank you so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 1, 2003 - 09:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The shooting today of a Palestinian gunman is the second attack in less than 24 hours since a temporary cease-fire was announced by Palestinian militants. It came just as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas prepared to meet in Jerusalem today. Could the latest violence, though, affect that summit?
Edward Djerejian, the director of Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, was assistant secretary of state for near east affairs. He joins us now from Houston.
Thank you so much for being with us this morning.
I need to ask you at this point, how hopeful are you about this cease-fire?
EDWARD DJEREJIAN, FMR. ASST. SECY. OF STATE FOR NEAR EAST AFFAIRS: Well, I'm cautiously hopeful, because I think there are three major factors in play here that are different, new and very important. One is, President Bush's personal involvement in the process, as exemplified by the meetings in Aqaba, and in Sharm El- Sheikh. Number two is Mahmoud Abbas, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, is taking a leading and important role in arranging the cease-fire and moving forward on the road map, and the Palestinians have instituted the necessary political and economic reforms, and third, is Prime Minister Sharon's very important statements concerning the need to move forward to negotiate a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.
So the confluence of all these events, plus our military operation in Iraq gives us a new opportunity to move forward.
COLLINS: What about Yasser Arafat? Any concerns that he will stir the pot?
DJEREJIAN: I think he may prove to be troublesome, because he has been, if you will, sort of given an honorary position as president, but Mahmoud Abbas is the prime minister, making the executive decisions.
I think in the long run, he has to take a very careful look. If he sabotages the process, it will become quite transparent that he's done it, and I think that will lead more to his further isolation than anything else.
COLLINS: Do you really have confidence then, that the feeling, at least amongst the Palestinian people, about Mahmoud Abbas is changing? He's been seen as a puppet of the U.S.?
DJEREJIAN: I think his success will be directly linked to the success on the ground between the Israelis and the Palestinians, as we're seeing today. The fact that a cease-fire has been hammered out, there are some radical factions who are still fighting that. Basically, a cease-fire has been hammered out. The fact that there are American monitors there, under Ambassador John Wolf, the fact that the Israelis are beginning to pull out of Gaza and preparing to pull out of Bethlehem, all of these will be very tangible signs to the Palestinian people that under Abbas, progress is being made. So his success is really dependent upon the progress on the ground.
COLLINS: Ambassador Djerejian, do you think there's anything to say about the fact that this meeting between Abbas and Sharon was not canceled after the latest round of violence, and also, that Sharon has not, at least publicly, condemned any of it?
DJEREJIAN: I think there's a very good sign, because it shows strong political will on the part of the Israeli leadership, strong political will on the part of the Palestinian leadership, bolstered by the leadership by the American administration to move forward. The whole name of the game is to move forward and marginalize the extremists, and that's why they're proceeding in the face of these setbacks on the ground.
COLLINS: Ambassador Edward Djerejian, thank you so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
