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CNN Sunday Morning
White House Monitors Developments in Middle East
Aired June 08, 2003 - 07:59 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: Palestinian gunmen disguised as Israeli soldiers slipped into an army post at a Gaza border crossing and killed four Israeli soldiers. Israeli troops killed three of the gunmen. The attack came hours after radical Palestinian factions vowed to continue their Intifada against Israel. Three Palestinian militant groups claimed responsibility for the Gaza attack. And a Hamas spokesman said it demonstrates widespread opposition to last week's peace summit at al Aqaba.
CNN's Chris Burns joins us now at the White House, where the Bush administration is monitoring the latest developments now in the Mideast.
Chris, good morning to you.
CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning to you Heidi. Well, no immediate reaction from the White House but you might note a couple of days ago President Bush had a phone call with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain in which he talked about the need for both sides, the Palestinians and the Israelis, to focus on results. Those were his words.
And also in recent days White House officials have been saying they did expect bumps in the road. There will always be bumps in the road on this Road Map for Peace. This Road Map that the president has gotten both sides to espouse, a Road Map that envisions a Palestinian state by the year 2005. But that is a long time between now, and then a lot of things to sort out between now and then. And this was one of those incidents that is going to complicate things, obviously.
This comes of course in the wake of the Wednesday Red Sea Summit between the president and the two Prime Ministers in which both -- in which all three committed themselves to pushing ahead with this road map for peace. However, it is very difficult. The president got both sides to promise some measures. The Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to start to lift some of those crushing restrictions on the Palestinians including allowing some Palestinian workers to start working back inside Israel.
And what we saw in this attack today was that attack happened as those militants were trying to enter along with some of those Palestinian workers. So this could very much complicate things. On the Palestinian side, there is pressure on Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian prime minister, to try to rein in the militants. He's been trying to reach a negotiated settlement with those militants to try to get them to stop their attacks. However there were two Israeli targeted killings of two Hamas earlier in the week, that obviously also does complicate things.
So we're going to see a lot of difficulty up ahead. So the Bush administration is saying that there will be bumps in the road, to focus on results. But also, they're taking a hard line on the militants. Comments earlier this week calling Hamas one of those enemies of peace and that they have to be cracked down on -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Chris, wondering you mentioned, Mahmoud Abbas, the prime minister. I'm just wondering if the White House is concerned now, after this event taking place so quickly after the summit. Are they concerned about his power and control and what sort of power and control Yasser Arafat may still have?
BURNS: Very much a question now. Obviously, the White House has been making a very full-court press over the last few months to try to sideline Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader. And that was the idea as bringing in Mahmoud Abbas, the new prime minister. And they do want to give him a bit of breathing room, a little bit of time to try to push ahead, to try to dismantle those Palestinian militant groups. At least, to try to rein them in and to stop their attacks, and that's how Abbas is taking an approach right now to try to reach a peaceful settlement. Even Abbas is talking about the possibility of a civil war if this does not work out -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Chris Burns, live from the White House this morning. Thanks so much, Chris.
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 June 8, 2003 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Palestinian gunmen disguised as Israeli soldiers slipped into an army post at a Gaza border crossing and killed four Israeli soldiers. Israeli troops killed three of the gunmen. The attack came hours after radical Palestinian factions vowed to continue their Intifada against Israel. Three Palestinian militant groups claimed responsibility for the Gaza attack. And a Hamas spokesman said it demonstrates widespread opposition to last week's peace summit at al Aqaba.
CNN's Chris Burns joins us now at the White House, where the Bush administration is monitoring the latest developments now in the Mideast.
Chris, good morning to you.
CHRIS BURNS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning to you Heidi. Well, no immediate reaction from the White House but you might note a couple of days ago President Bush had a phone call with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain in which he talked about the need for both sides, the Palestinians and the Israelis, to focus on results. Those were his words.
And also in recent days White House officials have been saying they did expect bumps in the road. There will always be bumps in the road on this Road Map for Peace. This Road Map that the president has gotten both sides to espouse, a Road Map that envisions a Palestinian state by the year 2005. But that is a long time between now, and then a lot of things to sort out between now and then. And this was one of those incidents that is going to complicate things, obviously.
This comes of course in the wake of the Wednesday Red Sea Summit between the president and the two Prime Ministers in which both -- in which all three committed themselves to pushing ahead with this road map for peace. However, it is very difficult. The president got both sides to promise some measures. The Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to start to lift some of those crushing restrictions on the Palestinians including allowing some Palestinian workers to start working back inside Israel.
And what we saw in this attack today was that attack happened as those militants were trying to enter along with some of those Palestinian workers. So this could very much complicate things. On the Palestinian side, there is pressure on Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian prime minister, to try to rein in the militants. He's been trying to reach a negotiated settlement with those militants to try to get them to stop their attacks. However there were two Israeli targeted killings of two Hamas earlier in the week, that obviously also does complicate things.
So we're going to see a lot of difficulty up ahead. So the Bush administration is saying that there will be bumps in the road, to focus on results. But also, they're taking a hard line on the militants. Comments earlier this week calling Hamas one of those enemies of peace and that they have to be cracked down on -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Chris, wondering you mentioned, Mahmoud Abbas, the prime minister. I'm just wondering if the White House is concerned now, after this event taking place so quickly after the summit. Are they concerned about his power and control and what sort of power and control Yasser Arafat may still have?
BURNS: Very much a question now. Obviously, the White House has been making a very full-court press over the last few months to try to sideline Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader. And that was the idea as bringing in Mahmoud Abbas, the new prime minister. And they do want to give him a bit of breathing room, a little bit of time to try to push ahead, to try to dismantle those Palestinian militant groups. At least, to try to rein them in and to stop their attacks, and that's how Abbas is taking an approach right now to try to reach a peaceful settlement. Even Abbas is talking about the possibility of a civil war if this does not work out -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Chris Burns, live from the White House this morning. Thanks so much, Chris.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
