Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Sunday Morning
Bush Monitors Developments in Ramallah
Aired September 29, 2002 - 09:02 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Israeli army has been ending its siege of Yasser Arafat's West Bank headquarters. We're going to go to some live pictures right now from Ramallah. Israel's decision to stand down comes after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon received a personal message from President Bush.
With more on that, senior White House correspondent John King joins us live from Crawford, Texas. Good morning, John.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Anderson. That personal message from the president part of intense pressure from senior U.S. officials on the Israeli government over the past several days. The message from the president, we are told, was delivered in the past several days directly by the U.S. ambassador in Israel who went to Mr. Sharon and said he was coming to convey a personal message from President Bush that the president wanted the siege at the Arafat compound ended, and ended immediately.
There also have been other high-level discussions. Secretary of State Colin Powell had called the prime minister directly. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice calling Israeli officials and also meeting with some Israeli officials in Washington.
The administration's message to Prime Minister Sharon was that they did not believe the siege on the Arafat compound was in the best interests of trying to get a peace process started. Also, the administration arguing Prime Minister Sharon was setting back efforts by other Arab nations to pressure the Palestinians to adopt reforms.
The administration insists, never said in these tough messages was that the Israeli siege was complicating its diplomacy when it comes to the administration's posture toward Iraq, but the administration officials also concede, the Iraqis almost every day, other Arab countries say that it is much harder for the United States to build support for a possible military confrontation against Saddam Hussein when in the view of the Arab world and certainly the Palestinians, the Israelis themselves are violating United Nations resolutions. So the administration pleased by what it sees so far this morning. They will continue to monitor the developments, of course, because the Palestinians are saying, the Israelis have pulled back, but in truth, the siege is not quite over -- Anderson.
COOPER: John, some pretty strong statements from Iraq yesterday, rejecting any attempts by the U.S. and the Great Britain to forge this resolution, any attempts to change the mandate of U.N. weapons inspectors. How is the White House responding? KING: Well, the White House says that is predictable but unacceptable, the response from Baghdad. Some White House officials believe it will actually help the administration make the case at the United Nations. The U.S. administration will argue, look, what you see here is continued Iraqi belligerence, but in the short term, if you look at the reaction around the world, so far Iraq is succeeding in keeping the Security Council divided. Russia, France and China, three permanent members of the Security Council, which have veto power over any new resolution, still are skeptical of the U.S. approach.
The president has some lobbying cut out for him, and they are concerned at the administration that this debate is dragging on too long. They want the Security Council to act within the next week or two. They have a military timeline in place that if there is a military option, most believe the president would have to exercise it in the early winter months early next year. So the administration getting concerned that this debate is beginning to drag on.
COOPER: All right, John King, thanks very much. Live from Crawford, Texas.
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 September 29, 2002 - 09:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Israeli army has been ending its siege of Yasser Arafat's West Bank headquarters. We're going to go to some live pictures right now from Ramallah. Israel's decision to stand down comes after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon received a personal message from President Bush.
With more on that, senior White House correspondent John King joins us live from Crawford, Texas. Good morning, John.
JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Anderson. That personal message from the president part of intense pressure from senior U.S. officials on the Israeli government over the past several days. The message from the president, we are told, was delivered in the past several days directly by the U.S. ambassador in Israel who went to Mr. Sharon and said he was coming to convey a personal message from President Bush that the president wanted the siege at the Arafat compound ended, and ended immediately.
There also have been other high-level discussions. Secretary of State Colin Powell had called the prime minister directly. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice calling Israeli officials and also meeting with some Israeli officials in Washington.
The administration's message to Prime Minister Sharon was that they did not believe the siege on the Arafat compound was in the best interests of trying to get a peace process started. Also, the administration arguing Prime Minister Sharon was setting back efforts by other Arab nations to pressure the Palestinians to adopt reforms.
The administration insists, never said in these tough messages was that the Israeli siege was complicating its diplomacy when it comes to the administration's posture toward Iraq, but the administration officials also concede, the Iraqis almost every day, other Arab countries say that it is much harder for the United States to build support for a possible military confrontation against Saddam Hussein when in the view of the Arab world and certainly the Palestinians, the Israelis themselves are violating United Nations resolutions. So the administration pleased by what it sees so far this morning. They will continue to monitor the developments, of course, because the Palestinians are saying, the Israelis have pulled back, but in truth, the siege is not quite over -- Anderson.
COOPER: John, some pretty strong statements from Iraq yesterday, rejecting any attempts by the U.S. and the Great Britain to forge this resolution, any attempts to change the mandate of U.N. weapons inspectors. How is the White House responding? KING: Well, the White House says that is predictable but unacceptable, the response from Baghdad. Some White House officials believe it will actually help the administration make the case at the United Nations. The U.S. administration will argue, look, what you see here is continued Iraqi belligerence, but in the short term, if you look at the reaction around the world, so far Iraq is succeeding in keeping the Security Council divided. Russia, France and China, three permanent members of the Security Council, which have veto power over any new resolution, still are skeptical of the U.S. approach.
The president has some lobbying cut out for him, and they are concerned at the administration that this debate is dragging on too long. They want the Security Council to act within the next week or two. They have a military timeline in place that if there is a military option, most believe the president would have to exercise it in the early winter months early next year. So the administration getting concerned that this debate is beginning to drag on.
COOPER: All right, John King, thanks very much. Live from Crawford, Texas.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
