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CNN Saturday Morning News

Powell Will Not Meet With Arafat

Aired April 13, 2002 - 07:05   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: From Jenin to Jerusalem we turn now. For that, we go to CNN's Chris Burns.

Chris, what's the latest there?

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, the latest is what is not happening. Secretary of State Colin Powell is not meeting with Yasser Arafat today. That was a big disappointment for the Palestinians. Powell, of course, waiting for Yasser Arafat to condemn the suicide attack yesterday that killed six people here in Jerusalem along with the suicide bomber.

Powell met instead with two groups, one group of Christian leaders here in Jerusalem, and a group of aid agencies. To the aid agencies, he said in a message that he hopes that Israeli -- Israel exercises "utmost constraint" in their incursions in the West Bank, also that they avoid using excessive force, and that the U.S. is particularly concerned about the humanitarian situation in Jenin.

And that's where Rula Amin was talking about how there are reports of hundreds of people dead in that town, in the refugee camp there.

In his meeting with Christian leaders, there is word from one of the Christian leaders, the Lutheran bishop of Jerusalem, Muni Buan (ph), who says -- who quotes Powell as saying that he is considering whether to meet with Arafat on Sunday, that he will decide today. That is according to the Lutheran religious leader.

A very, very difficult decision for Powell, of course, because of that suicide attack. However, we asked one Palestinian, one Palestinian, a intellectual, about what he thought about whether Arafat should condemn this latest attack or not.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHDI ABDUL HADI, PALESTINIAN ANALYST: If you need things (UNINTELLIGIBLE), you can go to chronology events when Arafat and the PA has been always condemning killing civilians, innocent people, on both sides.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNS: So Arafat, according to him, has been condemning this all along. Arafat met yesterday with Anthony Zinni, the U.S. -- the chief U.S. envoy to the Middle East. That meeting described on the Palestinian side as being a "difficult and candid" meeting. We'll have to see later today whether Secretary Powell does decide whether to meet with Arafat, but we also have to see whether Arafat does condemn that latest attack -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Chris, it seems unlikely that Chairman Arafat will, in fact, condemn that latest attack. In the absence of that condemnation, what criteria would allow a Powell meeting with Mr. Arafat?

BURNS: A lot of other criteria, of course, as well. Now, the other Palestinians, officials, are saying, Well, look, the Israelis have been moving very, very aggressively and killing a lot of Palestinians in the process in trying to crush what the Israelis call the infrastructure of terrorism in the West Bank.

However, there are considerations that Powell has to keep in mind about whether he -- if he does not meet with Arafat, he could make things much more difficult in his relations and the U.S. relations with moderate Arab states such as Jordan, such as Egypt. If there is no meeting, those countries could make it much more difficult, the relations with those countries.

Those countries also worried about the instability within their own borders, where there have been protests in support of the Palestinians by a lot of people there who are very much upset with what is going on with this Israeli incursion.

So this -- the repercussions from not meeting with Arafat could go beyond this area -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Chris Burns in Jerusalem, thank you very much.

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