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CNN Saturday Morning News
Yasser Arafat Is Decideding Whether or not to accept Mahmoud Abbas Resignation
Aired September 06, 2003 - 09:00 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.
SEAN CALLEBS: Now we have -- head off to Ramallah and the very latest, Matthew Chance, who is just outside Yasser Arafat's compound. Good morning, Matthew. What can you tell us from there? What is the official word coming out of Arafat's compound?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you as well, Sean.
Well, there is no official word coming out of Yasser Arafat's compound, the building that you can see right behind me here. But very much the focus is on what will be decided by Yasser Arafat as he sits down with his advisers to decide whether to accept this resignation that has b been submitted by his prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, over the course of the past few hours.
Of course, if he does accept it, it may have far-reaching implications for the U.S.-backed peace process known as the road map. Israel, for one, has made it quite clear that it will not with Yasser Arafat. It does not regard the Palestinian president as a peace partner that it can trust.
It's also -- Israeli officials have also gone so far as to say is that they will not negotiate either or deal either with any officials that are appointed by Yasser Arafat in the near future, Israel making it very clear that it regards Mahmoud Abbas the only individual in the Palestinian Authority at this stage that it sees fit to lead that Palestinian Authority, to implement, from the Palestinian side, the U.S.-backed road map.
Palestinian officials here very concerned that if this resignation is accepted by Yasser Arafat -- and it's not clear that it will be yet -- then that may mean the United States officials will simply walk away from this entire process. And that's something many people here, many Palestinian officials, say they want to avoid at the utmost.
CALLEBS: OK, Matthew Chance, thanks very much. We will continue to check in with you as the days' events warrant.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Mahmoud Abbas Resignation>
Aired September 6, 2003 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS: Now we have -- head off to Ramallah and the very latest, Matthew Chance, who is just outside Yasser Arafat's compound. Good morning, Matthew. What can you tell us from there? What is the official word coming out of Arafat's compound?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you as well, Sean.
Well, there is no official word coming out of Yasser Arafat's compound, the building that you can see right behind me here. But very much the focus is on what will be decided by Yasser Arafat as he sits down with his advisers to decide whether to accept this resignation that has b been submitted by his prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, over the course of the past few hours.
Of course, if he does accept it, it may have far-reaching implications for the U.S.-backed peace process known as the road map. Israel, for one, has made it quite clear that it will not with Yasser Arafat. It does not regard the Palestinian president as a peace partner that it can trust.
It's also -- Israeli officials have also gone so far as to say is that they will not negotiate either or deal either with any officials that are appointed by Yasser Arafat in the near future, Israel making it very clear that it regards Mahmoud Abbas the only individual in the Palestinian Authority at this stage that it sees fit to lead that Palestinian Authority, to implement, from the Palestinian side, the U.S.-backed road map.
Palestinian officials here very concerned that if this resignation is accepted by Yasser Arafat -- and it's not clear that it will be yet -- then that may mean the United States officials will simply walk away from this entire process. And that's something many people here, many Palestinian officials, say they want to avoid at the utmost.
CALLEBS: OK, Matthew Chance, thanks very much. We will continue to check in with you as the days' events warrant.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Mahmoud Abbas Resignation>
