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CNN Sunday Morning

Israeli Troops Pull Back From Arafat's Compound

Aired September 29, 2002 - 10:02   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.


CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: There is some Israeli military repositioning today in Ramallah. Israeli tanks backed away from Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters, but Arafat says it is not enough. And joining us now from Ramallah is CNN's Ben Wedeman. Ben, we understand that they pulled back, but certainly not completely away from that area.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. You're right, Catherine. Earlier this morning, the Israeli Cabinet made a decision to pull out of the compound, but they made it clear that they weren't leaving Ramallah and they were really just pulling out beyond the perimeter that surrounds Mr. Arafat's compound. Now, that happened at about 2:00 this afternoon, with very little fanfare, obviously.

Shortly there afterwards, the Palestinian leader came out. He addressed the crowd. It was a very rambunctious crowd. They were celebrating with what is seen widely here as a victory for the Palestinians. The Palestinian leader we saw was blowing kisses to his supporters, who flocked to the compound as soon as the Israelis left.

Now, he did have a meeting also with the U.N. special enjoy to discuss the implementation of that Security Council resolution that called on the Israelis to depart the compound.

Now, when the Israelis left, they pulled their tanks -- their jeeps away from the immediate area of the compound, but they really haven't moved very far away. We saw them repositioning, as you said, about 40 yards from the compound itself.

And as far as Mr. Arafat goes, that is not enough to satisfy him that the U.N. Security Council resolutions are being implemented properly. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YASSER ARAFAT, PRESIDENT, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY: They are trying to defeat the Security Council resolutions. And for this, we are asking from the Security Council to follow up the accurate implementation of their resolution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: Now, still unresolved, of course, is the question of those people Israel said were inside the compound who were also on their wanted list of individuals involved in what they described as terrorist activities against Israel. Now, the fact that the Israelis pulled out of the compound without a resolution of this problem, of this situation basically means as far as the Palestinians go, that this was a victory for them, one which they didn't have to pay any price whatsoever -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All right, thank you, Ben. That's CNN's Ben Wedeman -- Anderson.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: As Israeli forces backed away from Yasser Arafat's headquarters today, there was some concern in the Israeli government circles that the siege at Ramallah had damaged more than the buildings in Arafat's compound. CNN's Jerrold Kessel has the latest from Jerusalem -- Jerrold.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Whether the relocation of the Israeli tanks will amount to a total end of the siege or merely the easing of pressure on Yasser Arafat's devastated compound is not clear. But what is clear, this Israeli decision was made under intense U.S. pressure.

Officials close to Prime Minister Sharon were reluctant to speak, but issued a statement after the Cabinet meeting acknowledging that Israeli actions had to take into account potential U.S. action on Iraq. The headline in Israel's best-selling newspaper read: "Bush's Message to Sharon: You Are Disturbing Us."

CHEMI SHALEV, ISRAELI POLITICAL ANALYST: We will probably see Mr. Sharon and the government trying to get back to the policy as it was not to capture main headlines around the world, and to do whatever it's doing vis-a-vis the Palestinians in a quiet way.

KESSEL: The Israeli army attacked the Muqataa compound 10 days ago, bringing in troops and armor after a suicide bomber from Hamas killed six people in Tel Aviv. "We had to prove to them," said a source close to the Israeli prime minister, "that we know what they're planning and that they could not go on planning such attacks at will."

The Israeli forces proceeded to deliver that message in concrete terms, by systematically demolishing most of the compound. But even before the demolition was finished, criticism of Mr. Sharon was building, across the Israeli political spectrum. Now, the decision to pull out is seen by some as a surrender, and critics argue instead of being weakened, Mr. Arafat is actually being strengthened, as attested by the latest rallies in Gaza and the West Bank.

SHALEV: This whole operation started out with a gut feeling among ministers that we have to do something about Arafat, but they stopped short of driving Arafat out, and it turned out that going half-measure was even worse than not doing anything at all.

KESSEL: Israel still insists that if any of those in Arafat's compound wanted on terrorism charges try to leave, its forces will still be in a position to arrest them.

The Palestinian leader spoke by phone to his top negotiator, Saeb Erakat. He is said to have praised U.S. pressure, but feels the Israelis are only aiming at pulling the wool over the Washington's eyes with a cosmetic redeployment.

(on camera): The Israelis are hoping that this whole siege affair will turn out to be nothing more than a tactical mishap, in no way harming their solid strategic alliance with the United States. The Palestinian leadership, while hoping to gain some kind of advantage by what's seen as Ariel Sharon's miscalculation, seem, however, to also be accepting the reality that they, too, cannot afford to get in the way of Washington's overall Mideast strategy.

Jerrold Kessel, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: Today, the Israeli pullback in Ramallah comes after a personal appeal from Washington, and it could have put a new strain on relations with the Israeli government. Joining us now with more on this from Crawford, Texas, CNN senior White House correspondent John King. Good morning, John.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Catherine. You are correct in saying urgent appeals, one personal message directly from President Bush to Prime Minister Sharon, phone calls from the Secretary of State Colin Powell, phone calls and meetings by the National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. The White House making the case urgently to Prime Minister Sharon that the siege of the Arafat compound was counterproductive.

And you showed those pictures of Yasser Arafat celebrating at a rally after the siege ended, or at least partially ended, with the Israelis pulling back. That was the White House message to Prime Minister Sharon. The White House has been pushing Palestinian reforms, has been urging moderate Palestinians to push Mr. Arafat aside, but the White House said to the Sharon government, is every time you do this, you empower Arafat, you make him more popular at the very moment we're trying to replace him in the Palestinian leadership.

The White House insists never in its stern messages to the Sharon government did it directly say that the siege on the compound in Ramallah was hurting the president's Iraq diplomacy, but White House officials also concede when they go to Arab capitals, when they meet with Arab diplomats to talk about building pressure on Saddam Hussein, the first reaction is that in the Arab world, the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is viewed as much more of a priority. Israel viewed by the Arabs is much more of a threat than Saddam Hussein -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Certainly one eye -- the president has one eye on Iraq, with planes reportedly attacking a mobile radar site there in southern Iraq. Any word from the president on this?

KING: No word from the president as yet. What you have is much more aggressive activity in those no-fly zones. They have been in place for 11 years now, since the end of the Persian Gulf War, but over the past several weeks and even the past several months, we have seen much more aggressive activity. What the U.S. Central Command, the military in charge of those strikes says is that Iraq is being much more aggressive in painting, turning on radar when U.S. and British planes fly overhead. The Iraqis say that the United States is being much more aggressive, trying to lay the groundwork, if you will, for an allied attack on Iraq down the road.

The White House does not respond, though, to the incidents in the no-fly zone, because they do happen on almost a daily basis.

CALLAWAY: That's right. And you know, we're also chasing down a report, CNN looking into the reports that we've heard about the two men in Turkey being allegedly arrested for carrying what could be uranium. Have we heard anything from the administration on this?

KING: No public comments, but I spoke to some senior officials yesterday, and privately their message was this: On the one hand, they said if this is true, if this is weapons grade uranium, that it is, quote, "frightening," in the words of one senior official. But they also urged us to have a bit of skepticism here. What the administration is saying is that there are a number of unscrupulous characters in that part of the world who claim to have fissile material, weapons grade uranium and would try to sell it.

The administration still responding with a bit of caution, but also urgency. Diplomatic conversations with the Turkish government, also technical experts that could go in and analyze that uranium, or accept an analysis from the Turkish government, contacting Turkey as well. A wait-and-see approach from the administration, but they certainly want answers to this question -- is it really what the police who seized it say it is, is it weapons grade uranium? If it is, look for the administration to ratchet up the pressure.

CALLAWAY: Still a lot to be confirmed in that story. You're right. All right, John, thank you. That's John King with the president in Crawford, Texas. Thanks, John.

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 - 10:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: There is some Israeli military repositioning today in Ramallah. Israeli tanks backed away from Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters, but Arafat says it is not enough. And joining us now from Ramallah is CNN's Ben Wedeman. Ben, we understand that they pulled back, but certainly not completely away from that area.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. You're right, Catherine. Earlier this morning, the Israeli Cabinet made a decision to pull out of the compound, but they made it clear that they weren't leaving Ramallah and they were really just pulling out beyond the perimeter that surrounds Mr. Arafat's compound. Now, that happened at about 2:00 this afternoon, with very little fanfare, obviously.

Shortly there afterwards, the Palestinian leader came out. He addressed the crowd. It was a very rambunctious crowd. They were celebrating with what is seen widely here as a victory for the Palestinians. The Palestinian leader we saw was blowing kisses to his supporters, who flocked to the compound as soon as the Israelis left.

Now, he did have a meeting also with the U.N. special enjoy to discuss the implementation of that Security Council resolution that called on the Israelis to depart the compound.

Now, when the Israelis left, they pulled their tanks -- their jeeps away from the immediate area of the compound, but they really haven't moved very far away. We saw them repositioning, as you said, about 40 yards from the compound itself.

And as far as Mr. Arafat goes, that is not enough to satisfy him that the U.N. Security Council resolutions are being implemented properly. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YASSER ARAFAT, PRESIDENT, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY: They are trying to defeat the Security Council resolutions. And for this, we are asking from the Security Council to follow up the accurate implementation of their resolution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: Now, still unresolved, of course, is the question of those people Israel said were inside the compound who were also on their wanted list of individuals involved in what they described as terrorist activities against Israel. Now, the fact that the Israelis pulled out of the compound without a resolution of this problem, of this situation basically means as far as the Palestinians go, that this was a victory for them, one which they didn't have to pay any price whatsoever -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All right, thank you, Ben. That's CNN's Ben Wedeman -- Anderson.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: As Israeli forces backed away from Yasser Arafat's headquarters today, there was some concern in the Israeli government circles that the siege at Ramallah had damaged more than the buildings in Arafat's compound. CNN's Jerrold Kessel has the latest from Jerusalem -- Jerrold.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Whether the relocation of the Israeli tanks will amount to a total end of the siege or merely the easing of pressure on Yasser Arafat's devastated compound is not clear. But what is clear, this Israeli decision was made under intense U.S. pressure.

Officials close to Prime Minister Sharon were reluctant to speak, but issued a statement after the Cabinet meeting acknowledging that Israeli actions had to take into account potential U.S. action on Iraq. The headline in Israel's best-selling newspaper read: "Bush's Message to Sharon: You Are Disturbing Us."

CHEMI SHALEV, ISRAELI POLITICAL ANALYST: We will probably see Mr. Sharon and the government trying to get back to the policy as it was not to capture main headlines around the world, and to do whatever it's doing vis-a-vis the Palestinians in a quiet way.

KESSEL: The Israeli army attacked the Muqataa compound 10 days ago, bringing in troops and armor after a suicide bomber from Hamas killed six people in Tel Aviv. "We had to prove to them," said a source close to the Israeli prime minister, "that we know what they're planning and that they could not go on planning such attacks at will."

The Israeli forces proceeded to deliver that message in concrete terms, by systematically demolishing most of the compound. But even before the demolition was finished, criticism of Mr. Sharon was building, across the Israeli political spectrum. Now, the decision to pull out is seen by some as a surrender, and critics argue instead of being weakened, Mr. Arafat is actually being strengthened, as attested by the latest rallies in Gaza and the West Bank.

SHALEV: This whole operation started out with a gut feeling among ministers that we have to do something about Arafat, but they stopped short of driving Arafat out, and it turned out that going half-measure was even worse than not doing anything at all.

KESSEL: Israel still insists that if any of those in Arafat's compound wanted on terrorism charges try to leave, its forces will still be in a position to arrest them.

The Palestinian leader spoke by phone to his top negotiator, Saeb Erakat. He is said to have praised U.S. pressure, but feels the Israelis are only aiming at pulling the wool over the Washington's eyes with a cosmetic redeployment.

(on camera): The Israelis are hoping that this whole siege affair will turn out to be nothing more than a tactical mishap, in no way harming their solid strategic alliance with the United States. The Palestinian leadership, while hoping to gain some kind of advantage by what's seen as Ariel Sharon's miscalculation, seem, however, to also be accepting the reality that they, too, cannot afford to get in the way of Washington's overall Mideast strategy.

Jerrold Kessel, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: Today, the Israeli pullback in Ramallah comes after a personal appeal from Washington, and it could have put a new strain on relations with the Israeli government. Joining us now with more on this from Crawford, Texas, CNN senior White House correspondent John King. Good morning, John.

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Catherine. You are correct in saying urgent appeals, one personal message directly from President Bush to Prime Minister Sharon, phone calls from the Secretary of State Colin Powell, phone calls and meetings by the National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. The White House making the case urgently to Prime Minister Sharon that the siege of the Arafat compound was counterproductive.

And you showed those pictures of Yasser Arafat celebrating at a rally after the siege ended, or at least partially ended, with the Israelis pulling back. That was the White House message to Prime Minister Sharon. The White House has been pushing Palestinian reforms, has been urging moderate Palestinians to push Mr. Arafat aside, but the White House said to the Sharon government, is every time you do this, you empower Arafat, you make him more popular at the very moment we're trying to replace him in the Palestinian leadership.

The White House insists never in its stern messages to the Sharon government did it directly say that the siege on the compound in Ramallah was hurting the president's Iraq diplomacy, but White House officials also concede when they go to Arab capitals, when they meet with Arab diplomats to talk about building pressure on Saddam Hussein, the first reaction is that in the Arab world, the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is viewed as much more of a priority. Israel viewed by the Arabs is much more of a threat than Saddam Hussein -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Certainly one eye -- the president has one eye on Iraq, with planes reportedly attacking a mobile radar site there in southern Iraq. Any word from the president on this?

KING: No word from the president as yet. What you have is much more aggressive activity in those no-fly zones. They have been in place for 11 years now, since the end of the Persian Gulf War, but over the past several weeks and even the past several months, we have seen much more aggressive activity. What the U.S. Central Command, the military in charge of those strikes says is that Iraq is being much more aggressive in painting, turning on radar when U.S. and British planes fly overhead. The Iraqis say that the United States is being much more aggressive, trying to lay the groundwork, if you will, for an allied attack on Iraq down the road.

The White House does not respond, though, to the incidents in the no-fly zone, because they do happen on almost a daily basis.

CALLAWAY: That's right. And you know, we're also chasing down a report, CNN looking into the reports that we've heard about the two men in Turkey being allegedly arrested for carrying what could be uranium. Have we heard anything from the administration on this?

KING: No public comments, but I spoke to some senior officials yesterday, and privately their message was this: On the one hand, they said if this is true, if this is weapons grade uranium, that it is, quote, "frightening," in the words of one senior official. But they also urged us to have a bit of skepticism here. What the administration is saying is that there are a number of unscrupulous characters in that part of the world who claim to have fissile material, weapons grade uranium and would try to sell it.

The administration still responding with a bit of caution, but also urgency. Diplomatic conversations with the Turkish government, also technical experts that could go in and analyze that uranium, or accept an analysis from the Turkish government, contacting Turkey as well. A wait-and-see approach from the administration, but they certainly want answers to this question -- is it really what the police who seized it say it is, is it weapons grade uranium? If it is, look for the administration to ratchet up the pressure.

CALLAWAY: Still a lot to be confirmed in that story. You're right. All right, John, thank you. That's John King with the president in Crawford, Texas. Thanks, John.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com