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CNN Sunday Morning

Israel Says Operation Defense Shield Over

Aired April 21, 2002 - 11:23   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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Israel says Operation Defense Shield is over, that announcement today from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, as Israeli forces pull out of parts of the West Bank.

CNN's Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson joins us live from Ramallah with the latest.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, residents here earlier in the day wasted no time trying to put their lives back in order. They woke up to find that Israeli army tanks and armored personnel carriers have been taken out of the city.

This area here was an Israeli army checkpoint until probably about 18 hours ago, sometime in the night. People have been sweeping the glass and debris out of their shops, cleaning up the garbage off the streets. The streets are already busy. This is the center of Ramallah here.

One of the things residents were able to wake up and see today when they came out on the streets is a billboard behind me. If you look up there, you can see it's a billboard of Palestinian unity. It's a message to the Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat. It says, "you are our knight in shining armor, and you will lead us."

There appears to be underneath it, graffiti that appears to have been written by the Israeli army soldiers who were here. What that graffiti now says and it's now been sprayed out. It says, "mother, mother, mother, run away. There is an Israeli army unit coming to town."

That's the type of thing that the people here are waking up to see. If we look beyond that and down the road there, you can see the road to the compound of the Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat.

Now it is down that road that there remains tight security, and a little late in the afternoon today, a group of cell styled peace activists, they are a pro-Palestinian group, tried to get some of their members into the compound, into Yasser Arafat's compound.

Now what happened, there was a confrontation with the Israeli troops, who are guarding that compound. Live rounds were fired to scare those activists off. Stun grenades were thrown. A teargas grenade was thrown, and about six of the group of 12 activists actually managed to get inside the Palestinian Leader's compound. Now there are already some 20 or so of those activists already in that compound with the Palestinian Leader, but the reason that the Israeli government says that it is maintaining this high level, this tight security around Yasser Arafat's compound is because they say there are men in that compound they hold responsible, who they believe are responsible for the killing of an Israeli minister late last year, the minister of tourism.

And they say until those men are handed over, the Israeli government, the Israeli authorities, for trial they will not release that closure, that closing off of Yasser Arafat's compound. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And, Nic, the Palestinians are unlikely to do that. Arafat is unlikely to hand over those suspects, particularly because Arafat is still disputing with Israel as to who would actually try them, correct?

ROBERTSON: Absolutely. A series of events that the Palestinians have been at pains to explain they say took place. Now what they say happened is, they were told by the Israeli authorities that these men should be arrested. They weren't all arrested together, but they were arrested. They were arrested in another town in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority say that they had to get Israeli government permission to bring these suspects to Yasser Arafat's compound, because they had to travel through an area of Israeli control. They did that. They say this was also done under the auspices of American officials here as well.

So it was very well know, and they believe, they view the situation that the Israeli government is making an excuse out of keeping this compound with this level of security, not allowing Yasser Arafat out or able to speak to the press because of these men that are inside. The Palestinians believe that they, under the agreement, the Oslo Agreements, peace agreements, that they have the right to try these men, having been instructed to apprehend them. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks very much, but of course Israel says they're the ones who want to try them if they apprehend them. Thanks very much, Nic Robertson, from Ramallah.

How is the White House reacting to developments in the Middle East? For that, we go live to Washington and CNN's Senior White House Correspondent John King. Hi there, John.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Fredricka. The challenge for the Bush Administration now trying to make some slow progress out of what many concede is still a mess in the Middle East.

The point you were just discussing with Nic Robertson, the Secretary of State Colin Powell says U.S. diplomats in the region still trying to broker some compromise to bring about an agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians as to how those five suspects will be brought to trial. That would conceivably and the negotiations still at a very difficult point, we are told, but that would conceivably bring about an end to the military offensive still around the Arafat compound in Ramallah.

Trying to look more long-term, Secretary Powell says he understands from the Palestinian and the Arab point of view that they believe security cooperation is one thing, but quite important to them is some confidence they can get back into a political dialog with Israel about the ultimate resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But Secretary Powell serving notice on "LATE EDITION" in a taped interview earlier this morning, that for that to happen, Mr. Arafat must give the Israelis some confidence that he is committed to peace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: What I said to him is that you have used Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but Secretary Powell serving notice on "LATE EDITION" in a taped interview earlier this morning that for that to happen, Mr. Arafat must give the Israelis some confidence that he is committed to peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: What I said to him is that you have used terror and you have used violence to try to achieve your goals. This is the time to stop moving in that direction. That will not lead you to your goals.

This is the time to make a strategic decision and to use your position as leader of the Palestinian people, which the Palestinian people say you are, and which I understand you are. Now use that position to speak out against incitement, to speak out against violence, to speak out against terror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Tough words for Mr. Arafat there, but the administration also rushing what you see here is the refugee camp in Jenin, the administration rushing tents, anti-disease supplies, water purification kits, other humanitarian relief. Secretary Powell says a very difficult and troubling situation still in that refugee camp and the United States is doing all it can from a humanitarian standpoint.

And as the administration deals with what is an international policy crisis, some domestic political ripple effect, if you will, here at home, many conservatives critical of the Bush Administration for dealing with Mr. Arafat at all. They say it has been proven that he has sponsored terror attacks against Israel and the criticism not limited to the Republicans.

Earlier today, a key Democrat, Senator Joseph Lieberman says he does not believe the administration entered into this crisis with a coherent policy. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

U.S. SENATOR JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D) CONNECTICUT: The Bush Administration's foreign policy recently has lacked the moral clarity and strategic focus it should have, and therefore has suffered a loss of credibility and also effectiveness. But they certainly have the time to put it back together, and I for one hope I can be supportive of that as it happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Secretary Powell saying he doesn't have much time to deal with the domestic criticism, his urgent focus in the week ahead, trying to end the standoff in Ramallah and another very related standoff around the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. That, he said, would get the Israelis to pull back completely out of the Palestinian territories, and perhaps from there, some conversations about trying to get a political dialog resumed. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks very much, John King. And for more perspective on the crisis in the Middle East, tune in to "LATE EDITION" with Wolf Blitzer next hour. You can hear what Secretary of State Colin Powell has to say about the latest developments in the region. He's one of Wolf's guests today on "LATE EDITION" at Noon Eastern.

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