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CNN Saturday Morning News
Powell Visits Syria
Aired May 03, 2003 - 07:02 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.
ROBIN MEADE, CNN ANCHOR: And our top story this hour, after the war on Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell was in Syria today. He's on his first trip to the region since Saddam Hussein was ousted from Iraq.
Well, Powell met today with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
CNN's Andrea Koppel with more now on Powell's mission.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Powell had a two-pronged agenda here in Damascus, to ensure the success of post-Iraq government, and also to try to move ahead the road map for peace, which was presented to the Israelis and Palestinians this week.
To that end, Secretary Powell's message to Syrian leaders, that they should encourage talks between Israel and the Palestinians, that they should expel extremists, Palestinian groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad, who have offices here in Damascus, that they should withdraw their thousands of troops from Lebanon, and that they should make sure not to harbor any Iraqi war criminals.
There has been a lot of saber-rattling in recent weeks in Washington, meant to shake up Syria, to let it know that there is a new dynamic in the region. And it's certainly gotten the attention of leaders here in Syria, who heard the alarm bells going off from thousands of miles away.
But at the same time, the essence of Secretary Powell's trip was summed up by Mr. Powell when he said that he is here to pursue diplomacy.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We had serious concerns about some of the actions that were being taken by Syria in the course of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and we spoke out clearly and candidly to the Syrians about that.
President always has a full range of political, economic, diplomatic, and military options to pursue foreign policy objectives. But I am here to pursue diplomacy, and mutual political efforts that both sides can be taken. And so the issue of war hostilities is not on the table.
KOPPEL: But the bottom line of Secretary Powell's message is that the war in Iraq should have been a wakeup call to the Syrian government, that the U.S.-Syrian relationship is at a crossroads, and that the path ahead lies in Syrian hands, whether or not there is a diplomatic showdown.
Andrea Koppel, CNN, Damascus.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 May 3, 2003 - 07:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ROBIN MEADE, CNN ANCHOR: And our top story this hour, after the war on Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell was in Syria today. He's on his first trip to the region since Saddam Hussein was ousted from Iraq.
Well, Powell met today with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
CNN's Andrea Koppel with more now on Powell's mission.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Powell had a two-pronged agenda here in Damascus, to ensure the success of post-Iraq government, and also to try to move ahead the road map for peace, which was presented to the Israelis and Palestinians this week.
To that end, Secretary Powell's message to Syrian leaders, that they should encourage talks between Israel and the Palestinians, that they should expel extremists, Palestinian groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad, who have offices here in Damascus, that they should withdraw their thousands of troops from Lebanon, and that they should make sure not to harbor any Iraqi war criminals.
There has been a lot of saber-rattling in recent weeks in Washington, meant to shake up Syria, to let it know that there is a new dynamic in the region. And it's certainly gotten the attention of leaders here in Syria, who heard the alarm bells going off from thousands of miles away.
But at the same time, the essence of Secretary Powell's trip was summed up by Mr. Powell when he said that he is here to pursue diplomacy.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We had serious concerns about some of the actions that were being taken by Syria in the course of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and we spoke out clearly and candidly to the Syrians about that.
President always has a full range of political, economic, diplomatic, and military options to pursue foreign policy objectives. But I am here to pursue diplomacy, and mutual political efforts that both sides can be taken. And so the issue of war hostilities is not on the table.
KOPPEL: But the bottom line of Secretary Powell's message is that the war in Iraq should have been a wakeup call to the Syrian government, that the U.S.-Syrian relationship is at a crossroads, and that the path ahead lies in Syrian hands, whether or not there is a diplomatic showdown.
Andrea Koppel, CNN, Damascus.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
