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CNN Saturday Morning News
Efforts to Salvage Road Map to Peace Under Way
Aired June 14, 2003 - 08:00 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.
THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: First up for you this hour, efforts to salvage a Mideast peace road map that's been detoured by several days of deadly violence. You know, we're covering the story from all angles for you.
CNN's Matthew Chance is in Jerusalem with more details on those planned talks.
Also, our Dana Bash is live at the White House with reaction from the Bush administration about the turmoil in the region.
Dana, we want to start with you and what the Bush administration is saying this morning.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Thomas, the president is, of course, not here in Washington. He is spending the weekend at his family vacation spot in Kennebunkport, Maine, there for his father, the 41st president's birthday, and, of course, Father's Day.
But the White House says the president will continue to get some R&R. Yesterday he played golf and he went fishing. But he is keeping close tabs, we are told, on the situation in the Mideast. He has a senior member of the National Security Council with him and he is in constant touch with top aides here in Washington.
And the president's new envoy, John Wolf, is expected to head to the region today to immediately begin meetings with Israelis and Palestinians, an attempt to get the process back on track.
Now, Wolf was tapped to lead a U.S. team that will be a permanent presence on the ground to mediate between the two sides. And White House officials say his top priority, his first priority will be to help the Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, beef up his security forces.
Now, the number one goal for the White House right now is, of course, to stop the violence. And senior Bush officials, including the secretary of state, Colin Powell, have been burning up the phone lines over the last few days, particularly to Arab leaders, imploring them to help stop the funding of terrorism, but also to ask them to publicly condemn Hamas and other terrorist organizations for their acts.
Now, as for the U.S. policy on Israel's actions, after coming down pretty hard on Israel earlier in the week for going after a Hamas leader, the White House is, seems to be easing back a bit. A spokesman, Ari Fleischer, saying, "No one can let the terrorists get away with the killing." But both Fleischer and Powell are asking Israel to use restraint in their attacks, in their retaliation, unlike what we've been seeing in Gaza over the past few days. They say it is important for them to remember they have to help preserve the overall road map to peace -- Thomas.
ROBERTS: And, Dana, real quickly before we let you go, Colin Powell still planning a visit to Jordan next weekend possibly?
BASH: That's correct. All signs are that it is on track for him to go, at least to Jordan, to start in Jordan on June 22nd. He is supposed to meet there with some officials from the so-called quartet. Russia, the E.U., the U.N. and the U.S., of course, were the ones who devised this road map. He is still set to go there and they are leaving open the possibility he also might meet with some senior officials there in the region -- Thomas.
ROBERTS: Dana Bash live for us from Washington this morning.
Dana, thanks very much.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And now to Jerusalem for the latest on the Israeli-Palestinian talks, expected to get under way today.
CNN's Matthew Chance is following that story and joins us now live -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you very much, Heidi.
And despite the continuing violence in the region, contacts are continuing between the Israeli officials on the one side and Palestinian Authority officials on the other. Nothing has been officially confirmed to us by either side, but we understand high level security meetings between officials of both sides may get under way as early as this evening, although Palestinian sources say it may not be until tomorrow until these talks get under way to try and find a way to get out of this cycle of violence.
In that violence, of course, the latest Israeli helicopter gunships striking at a car in a crowded street as it moved through Gaza City. The target, a member of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, who apparently, according to Israeli officials, was with his team on his way to fire makeshift missiles from the territory of Gaza into Israel proper. We're told also, though, by hospital officials in Gaza some 25 other people in the area where the car was attacked were also injured.
Basically, what our sources are telling us, though, is that some deal may be in the offing. As I say, the details not entirely clear, but if a deal is to be done, it may involve the Israeli Army withdrawing from certain areas of Gaza, handing security over to the Palestinians and stopping their policy of assassination of these senior militant figures -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Matthew, any idea what Hamas is going to offer them in order for this peace to work? CHANCE: It's not clear. This is a point of negotiation. The Palestinian Authority officials who are responsible for security and at the highest level have been engaging members of Hamas, the leaders of Hamas, to try and get from them some kind of guarantee that if certain conditions were met, i.e., an Israeli withdrawal from areas of Gaza to allow greater freedom of movement and a suspension of that Israeli policy of assassinating Hamas leaders, they're trying to get Hamas to agree that if all those pieces were put in place, then they would, in turn, suspend their policy of violence towards Israelis.
But no deal has been done at this stage.
COLLINS: Matthew Chance live in Jerusalem for us this morning.
Thanks so much for the update on all of this, Matthew.
Later today, a look at the key players in the Mideast road map to peace. "People In the News: Quest for Peace" delves into the lives of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. That's at 11:00 a.m. Eastern and 8:00 a.m. Pacific.
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 14, 2003 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: First up for you this hour, efforts to salvage a Mideast peace road map that's been detoured by several days of deadly violence. You know, we're covering the story from all angles for you.
CNN's Matthew Chance is in Jerusalem with more details on those planned talks.
Also, our Dana Bash is live at the White House with reaction from the Bush administration about the turmoil in the region.
Dana, we want to start with you and what the Bush administration is saying this morning.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Thomas, the president is, of course, not here in Washington. He is spending the weekend at his family vacation spot in Kennebunkport, Maine, there for his father, the 41st president's birthday, and, of course, Father's Day.
But the White House says the president will continue to get some R&R. Yesterday he played golf and he went fishing. But he is keeping close tabs, we are told, on the situation in the Mideast. He has a senior member of the National Security Council with him and he is in constant touch with top aides here in Washington.
And the president's new envoy, John Wolf, is expected to head to the region today to immediately begin meetings with Israelis and Palestinians, an attempt to get the process back on track.
Now, Wolf was tapped to lead a U.S. team that will be a permanent presence on the ground to mediate between the two sides. And White House officials say his top priority, his first priority will be to help the Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, beef up his security forces.
Now, the number one goal for the White House right now is, of course, to stop the violence. And senior Bush officials, including the secretary of state, Colin Powell, have been burning up the phone lines over the last few days, particularly to Arab leaders, imploring them to help stop the funding of terrorism, but also to ask them to publicly condemn Hamas and other terrorist organizations for their acts.
Now, as for the U.S. policy on Israel's actions, after coming down pretty hard on Israel earlier in the week for going after a Hamas leader, the White House is, seems to be easing back a bit. A spokesman, Ari Fleischer, saying, "No one can let the terrorists get away with the killing." But both Fleischer and Powell are asking Israel to use restraint in their attacks, in their retaliation, unlike what we've been seeing in Gaza over the past few days. They say it is important for them to remember they have to help preserve the overall road map to peace -- Thomas.
ROBERTS: And, Dana, real quickly before we let you go, Colin Powell still planning a visit to Jordan next weekend possibly?
BASH: That's correct. All signs are that it is on track for him to go, at least to Jordan, to start in Jordan on June 22nd. He is supposed to meet there with some officials from the so-called quartet. Russia, the E.U., the U.N. and the U.S., of course, were the ones who devised this road map. He is still set to go there and they are leaving open the possibility he also might meet with some senior officials there in the region -- Thomas.
ROBERTS: Dana Bash live for us from Washington this morning.
Dana, thanks very much.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And now to Jerusalem for the latest on the Israeli-Palestinian talks, expected to get under way today.
CNN's Matthew Chance is following that story and joins us now live -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you very much, Heidi.
And despite the continuing violence in the region, contacts are continuing between the Israeli officials on the one side and Palestinian Authority officials on the other. Nothing has been officially confirmed to us by either side, but we understand high level security meetings between officials of both sides may get under way as early as this evening, although Palestinian sources say it may not be until tomorrow until these talks get under way to try and find a way to get out of this cycle of violence.
In that violence, of course, the latest Israeli helicopter gunships striking at a car in a crowded street as it moved through Gaza City. The target, a member of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, who apparently, according to Israeli officials, was with his team on his way to fire makeshift missiles from the territory of Gaza into Israel proper. We're told also, though, by hospital officials in Gaza some 25 other people in the area where the car was attacked were also injured.
Basically, what our sources are telling us, though, is that some deal may be in the offing. As I say, the details not entirely clear, but if a deal is to be done, it may involve the Israeli Army withdrawing from certain areas of Gaza, handing security over to the Palestinians and stopping their policy of assassination of these senior militant figures -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Matthew, any idea what Hamas is going to offer them in order for this peace to work? CHANCE: It's not clear. This is a point of negotiation. The Palestinian Authority officials who are responsible for security and at the highest level have been engaging members of Hamas, the leaders of Hamas, to try and get from them some kind of guarantee that if certain conditions were met, i.e., an Israeli withdrawal from areas of Gaza to allow greater freedom of movement and a suspension of that Israeli policy of assassinating Hamas leaders, they're trying to get Hamas to agree that if all those pieces were put in place, then they would, in turn, suspend their policy of violence towards Israelis.
But no deal has been done at this stage.
COLLINS: Matthew Chance live in Jerusalem for us this morning.
Thanks so much for the update on all of this, Matthew.
Later today, a look at the key players in the Mideast road map to peace. "People In the News: Quest for Peace" delves into the lives of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. That's at 11:00 a.m. Eastern and 8:00 a.m. Pacific.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
