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CNN Sunday Morning
Sharon Travels to Britain
Aired July 13, 2003 - 10:39 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: On to the crisis in the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will try to mend fences with his British counterpart. Sharon is traveling to London today.
Our Matthew Chance is in Jerusalem with the details on that journey -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Fredricka.
And as Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, makes his way to Britain, his government back here in Israel has been attempting to focus international blame on Yasser Arafat for the lack of progress in the U.S.-backed road map peace process here.
Israeli officials urging European leaders to further isolate the Palestinian leader and warning that Israel may change its policy towards Yasser Arafat and arrest him or deport him.
Regardless, though, leaders have been continuing to meet Yasser Arafat in his besieged Ramallah compound essentially. The Russian foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, meeting Yasser Arafat earlier today.
Attention has been increasing within the Palestinian leadership in recent weeks, with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, facing internal criticism from President Arafat and others that his negotiations with Israel, which have led, of course, to a militant cease-fire, produced very little in terms of what the Palestinians want.
Israel says Yasser Arafat has been intentionally undermining his own prime minister in order to derail the peace process. Palestinian officials say there are a number of issues that are outstanding, though, between the Israelis and the Palestinians that need to be resolved in order for progress to be made further.
The biggest issue among them is that of Palestinian prisoners. Palestinian officials stressing the need for large-scale releases of militants and other Palestinian prisoners that are being held by Israel. More than 6,000 have been held. To date, though, Israel says it will only release a few hundred of those.
And so that has provoked widespread demonstrations in Palestinian streets and is, as I say, emerging as a major obstacle in progress towards some kind of peace agreement here -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Matthew. Thank you very much for that report from Jerusalem.
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 13, 2003 - 10:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: On to the crisis in the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will try to mend fences with his British counterpart. Sharon is traveling to London today.
Our Matthew Chance is in Jerusalem with the details on that journey -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Fredricka.
And as Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, makes his way to Britain, his government back here in Israel has been attempting to focus international blame on Yasser Arafat for the lack of progress in the U.S.-backed road map peace process here.
Israeli officials urging European leaders to further isolate the Palestinian leader and warning that Israel may change its policy towards Yasser Arafat and arrest him or deport him.
Regardless, though, leaders have been continuing to meet Yasser Arafat in his besieged Ramallah compound essentially. The Russian foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, meeting Yasser Arafat earlier today.
Attention has been increasing within the Palestinian leadership in recent weeks, with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, facing internal criticism from President Arafat and others that his negotiations with Israel, which have led, of course, to a militant cease-fire, produced very little in terms of what the Palestinians want.
Israel says Yasser Arafat has been intentionally undermining his own prime minister in order to derail the peace process. Palestinian officials say there are a number of issues that are outstanding, though, between the Israelis and the Palestinians that need to be resolved in order for progress to be made further.
The biggest issue among them is that of Palestinian prisoners. Palestinian officials stressing the need for large-scale releases of militants and other Palestinian prisoners that are being held by Israel. More than 6,000 have been held. To date, though, Israel says it will only release a few hundred of those.
And so that has provoked widespread demonstrations in Palestinian streets and is, as I say, emerging as a major obstacle in progress towards some kind of peace agreement here -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Matthew. Thank you very much for that report from Jerusalem.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
