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CNN Saturday Morning News
Yasser Arafat Hold Meeting To Resolve Conflict Over Emergency Cabinet
Aired October 11, 2003 - 7:01 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.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to the Middle East. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat holds a meeting today with his new prime minister and others to resolve a rift over an emergency cabinet. CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney is inside Arafat's compound. She joins us now on the phone from Ramallah. So Fionnuala, what is the latest on the cabinet? There were rumors a couple of days ago that Abu Allah is going to resign.
FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ahmed Qorei, as he's also known, is still the prime minister, Andrea, and he's now in a meeting with Yasser Arafat inside the compound here in Ramallah. The Fatah Central Committee, that is Yasser Arafat's political party, strongly objecting to a number of issues that have arisen over the past week, namely whether the security cabinet decreed by Yasser Arafat in an emergency legislation last Sunday evening should go before a vote of confidence in the Palestinian Legislative Council, or whether it should be an expanded regular council also getting approval from Palestinian legislators.
But also an issue and a very serious disagreement between Yasser Arafat and Abu Allah is the role of Nasser Yousef (ph), the man who's being appointed in the crucial role of interior minister, with responsibilities of security. He failed to show up at the swearing in ceremony last Tuesday. That apparently has greatly angered Yasser Arafat. He insists that Nasser Yousef (ph) cannot be the interior minister. Abu Allah refusing to back down, saying Nasser Yousef (ph), as far as he's concerned, will remain the interior minister. So that standoff is continuing -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: Fionnuala, what can you tell us about the incursion yesterday into Gaza City? There seems to be a bit of controversy surrounding exactly what the Israelis are saying they were going after and what the Palestinians say, in fact, happened on the ground.
SWEENEY: This incursion happened in Raffah (ph), which is in the Gaza Strip, and it borders Egypt. The Israeli army saying that they were going in to stop tunnels which are underneath the ground, being built to smuggle arms, they say, to Palestinians from the Egyptian side of the border. That raid ongoing. Apparently eight Palestinians now dead, 65 injured, 20 of them critically. The Palestinian cabinet here in Ramallah saying that it undermines their attempts to form a government, this latest incursion, calling on the Israeli military to stop, but the Israeli military say they will continue. They also say that the Palestinians are trying to bring in anti-aircraft missiles through those tunnels, which the Israeli army are trying to shut down as we speak. KOPPEL: Fionnuala Sweeney there for us in Ramallah, inside Yasser Arafat's compound.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Emergency Cabinet>
Aired October 11, 2003 - 7:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to the Middle East. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat holds a meeting today with his new prime minister and others to resolve a rift over an emergency cabinet. CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney is inside Arafat's compound. She joins us now on the phone from Ramallah. So Fionnuala, what is the latest on the cabinet? There were rumors a couple of days ago that Abu Allah is going to resign.
FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ahmed Qorei, as he's also known, is still the prime minister, Andrea, and he's now in a meeting with Yasser Arafat inside the compound here in Ramallah. The Fatah Central Committee, that is Yasser Arafat's political party, strongly objecting to a number of issues that have arisen over the past week, namely whether the security cabinet decreed by Yasser Arafat in an emergency legislation last Sunday evening should go before a vote of confidence in the Palestinian Legislative Council, or whether it should be an expanded regular council also getting approval from Palestinian legislators.
But also an issue and a very serious disagreement between Yasser Arafat and Abu Allah is the role of Nasser Yousef (ph), the man who's being appointed in the crucial role of interior minister, with responsibilities of security. He failed to show up at the swearing in ceremony last Tuesday. That apparently has greatly angered Yasser Arafat. He insists that Nasser Yousef (ph) cannot be the interior minister. Abu Allah refusing to back down, saying Nasser Yousef (ph), as far as he's concerned, will remain the interior minister. So that standoff is continuing -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: Fionnuala, what can you tell us about the incursion yesterday into Gaza City? There seems to be a bit of controversy surrounding exactly what the Israelis are saying they were going after and what the Palestinians say, in fact, happened on the ground.
SWEENEY: This incursion happened in Raffah (ph), which is in the Gaza Strip, and it borders Egypt. The Israeli army saying that they were going in to stop tunnels which are underneath the ground, being built to smuggle arms, they say, to Palestinians from the Egyptian side of the border. That raid ongoing. Apparently eight Palestinians now dead, 65 injured, 20 of them critically. The Palestinian cabinet here in Ramallah saying that it undermines their attempts to form a government, this latest incursion, calling on the Israeli military to stop, but the Israeli military say they will continue. They also say that the Palestinians are trying to bring in anti-aircraft missiles through those tunnels, which the Israeli army are trying to shut down as we speak. KOPPEL: Fionnuala Sweeney there for us in Ramallah, inside Yasser Arafat's compound.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Emergency Cabinet>
