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Your World Today

Lebanese Elections; Rice Visits Egypt; Iraq Violence

Aired June 20, 2005 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: In the name of the father. A son tries to usher in political change in Lebanon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: It is time to abandon the excuses that are made to avoid the hard work of democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Fanning the winds of change. The U.S. pressing for democracy across the Middle East.

VERJEE: And change for the better? A look at Zimbabwe's brutal crackdown on illegal shantytowns.

CLANCY: It is 7:00 p.m. in Beirut, Lebanon; 6:00 p.m. in Harari. I'm Jim Clancy.

VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and throughout the world. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CLANCY: Your window.

VERJEE: There are gusts of change blowing across the Middle East this day. In Lebanon, an alliance strongly opposed to Syria's influence claims the reigns of power.

CLANCY: And it comes as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in the region delivering what can only be said to be a strong message about democracy that challenges friends and foes alike.

VERJEE: While in Iraq, an experiment in democracy covered in blood.

CLANCY: All right. Let's begin our report in Lebanon, where a new political era is taking shape out of the long shadow of Syria. An anti-Syrian alliance headed by Saad Hariri is now claiming victory in Sunday's fourth and the final round of parliamentary elections.

Now, early results show the alliance won enough seats to secure a majority. It would be the first time in decades that politicians opposed to Syrian influence have been able to hold sway in parliament. Hariri says the assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, obviously helped to galvanize the people to demand political change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAAD HARIRI, LEBANESE POLITICIAN: On the 14th of February, and this victory is to be given as a present to the soul of the martyr, Rafik Hariri, and (INAUDIBLE), and to the -- and to the comrades, and to Samir Kassir, also another martyr. And this is a victory also that we give as a gift to the colleague, Marwan Hamade, who survived the first of the assassination attempts, and to Dr. Samir Geagea, who is going to be released from prison, god willing, very shortly.

This is a victory that we give also as a gift to -- to all of the north, Tripoli (INAUDIBLE). These are cities in the north, (INAUDIBLE). The national unity prevailed, and national reconciliation and the soul and the spirit on the 14th of March.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: CNN's Brent Sadler is following this story for us. He joins us now from Beirut.

Brent, a major change in the political landscape there in Lebanon. What do these results mean for Lebanon, for the Lebanese people?

BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: Well, first and foremost, Zain, it means that Lebanon will have the next parliament that's free of direct Syrian interference through proxies in parliament. The old way of doing things around here was that Syria would have a strong influence over a block of MPs in parliament.

And this relationship has existed for some 15 years, since the end of the civil war, though Syrian troops have been in Lebanon -- had been in Lebanon up until the end of April for some 29 years. This redraws the political map in a way where the pieces really are really just falling into place.

VERJEE: Syria, though, will keep some influence, though, won't it, Brent, through the sheer factions of Amal and Hezbollah?

SADLER: Absolutely. Syria still can count on allies here through the main sheer blocks here of Amal and Hezbollah, together about three dozen seats. But it's the majority in parliament that counts, and this opposition alliance that has come through at the 11th hour, effectively, after the last round of voting in the north, now has the majority of about eight seats.

That is the kind of majority that Saad Hariri's father -- Saad Hariri just held a press conference here, still in the middle of it -- that his father, the late Rafik Hariri, was never able to win that kind of majority, free from Syrian influence, in the 13 years that Rafik Hariri was in power, a five times prime minister -- Zain.

VERJEE: What are some of the issues that the new parliament will face, Brent? Disarming Hezbollah has to be key. SADLER: Well, whoever sits in the prime minister's office in the building that's just behind me faces a lot of tough issues. A real rough ride ahead, not least the economic situation, about $35 billion in debt. And also, primarily for the international community, the issue of disarming Hezbollah under the terms of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 that was adopted last September.

Now, Saad Hariri told CNN in an interview just before he went on air at the press conference, saying he was appealing to the international community to understand that the dynamics of disarming Hezbollah are primarily a Lebanese domestic concern, that Lebanon has been through civil war, Israeli occupation, and now the traumas of breaking the Syrian dominance over Lebanon. Saad Hariri is saying quite clearly, give the new governance of Lebanon a break before piling international pressure on the very thorny issue of disarming Hezbollah -- Zain.

VERJEE: CNN's Beirut bureau chief, Brent Sadler, reporting.

A historic moment for women in Kuwait. The Gulf Emirate's first female cabinet minister takes office as a member of parliament only a month after women won the right to vote. Massouma al-Mubarak has been appointed minister of planning and administer to development affairs. The swearing in triggered an outcry from Islamist and conservative members of parliament.

CLANCY: A high-profile push for democratic reforms across the Middle East. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice traveled to Egypt and sent a blunt message. The message was take the lead and define democratic change in the region.

Cairo Bureau Chief Ben Wedeman joins us now live -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Jim. Well, the Egyptian government, however, seems to be somewhat hesitant to do exactly that, taking the lead and defining the rate of democratic change in this part of the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): She arrived bearing a message not likely to please her Egyptian hosts. Meeting with long-ruling President Hosni Mubarak, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice came to press the Bush administration's campaign for democratic reform in a region where dictatorship rules.

She unleashed her public fire on an audience at the American University in Cairo. There, she went down a list of what she views as basic obligations every government has toward its citizens.

RICE: When we talk about democracy, though, we are referring to governments that protect certain basic rights for all their citizens. Among these, the right to speak freely, the right to associate, the right to worship as you wish, the freedom to educate your children, boys and girls, and freedom from the midnight knock of the secret police. WEDEMAN: Political activists in Egypt and elsewhere in the region know well the sound of that midnight knock. And according to human rights groups, are no strangers to beatings, torture and intimidation.

In May, dozens of pro-democracy protesters in Cairo were attacked by a mob of Mubarak supporters. Several women demonstrators were sexually molested while police looked on passively.

RICE: We are all concerned for the future of Egypt's reforms, when peaceful supporters of democracy, men and women, are not free from violence. The day must come when the rule of law replaces emergency decrees and when the independent judiciary replaces arbitrary justice.

WEDEMAN: Rice also insisted that international monitors and observers be allowed access to Egyptian presidential and parliamentary elections later this year.

After the address, one member of the ruling party suggested the secretary was going too far...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought the presidential election or the parliamentary election is our business.

WEDEMAN: ... while another listener wondered how the Americans had become the advocates of Arab democracy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what she said, I think there was a minute there, it was like, wait a minute, this is our dream. This should be our dream. This should not be the U.S. dream.

WEDEMAN: Before leaving Cairo, Rice met with Egyptian civil society leaders, but though invited, many opposition figures stayed away, anxious not to be seen as too close to the Americans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN: Now, Jim, the U.S. is walking a fine line here. If it pushes too hard for democracy, it may cause a backlash against perceived foreign interference. However, if it doesn't push hard enough, according to democracy activists here, the dictators of the region could decide that there's no reason really to carry out the reforms that they've promised.

Now, today we saw an anti-U.S. demonstration by one of the opposition groups, Kafaya (ph), here in Cairo. They were apparently -- some of their leaders were invited to meet with Secretary Rice. However, they said they don't want to meet with her because they are against exactly this sort of thing, U.S. involvement in Egyptian domestic politics -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. Well, let's go back to those demonstrations that you showed us earlier that were so violent and were aimed against the opposition here. And I'm just wondering if anybody there in Cairo is taking the -- is taking all of this quite personally coming from Secretary Rice?

WEDEMAN: Well, certainly the fact that Secretary Rice comes to Egypt, meets with President Mubarak, and then comes to Cairo and makes a fairly strong speech in which she makes some explicit criticisms of the Egyptian government, and essentially writes down a list of things that she expects, or the United States expects Egypt to do regarding the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. And the Egyptian media is very attentive to the language used.

And Secretary Rice, for instance, said Egypt must allow international election observers free access. That sort of -- the word "must" is going to cause some Egyptians to be upset. And possibly rightly so, in their opinion, to say the Americans are interfering in their politics -- Jim.

CLANCY: All right. Secretary Rice there in Cairo. Ben Wedeman covering it for us live. Thank you, Ben.

VERJEE: Iranian officials ordering a random recount of 100 ballot boxes from the nation's presidential election. Iranian state television reports that the powerful Guardian Council deems it necessary to recount some votes from Tehran and three other cities. The top two finishers, former President Akbar Rafsanjani and former Tehran Mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, are scheduled to face off in a runoff on Friday.

Two of the remaining five presidential candidates have alleged that votes for Ahmadinejad were boosted by tampering.

A spate of car bombings across Iraq has left many dead and scores wounded.

Jennifer Eccleston joins us now live with more.

Jennifer, car bombs today targeting Iraqi police?

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Again, Zain, after a weekend marked by violence, the attacks continued throughout the country today.

A suicide car bomber exploded outside a checkpoint on the road to Baghdad Airport a short while ago, killing one person and wounding several others. Then earlier this morning, five Iraqi police and security forces were killed when a car bomb exploded near their Baghdad police station.

Now, it appeared to be a coordinated attack. The insurgents first fired on the police. When the security forces were called in for backup, a bomb detonated. Some 15 security forces were also injured.

And also today, in the northern Kurdish city of Erbil, a suicide bomber killed 12 people in an attack on a group of traffic police officers who were gathered for their morning roll call. Now, the attacker was dressed as a policeman. More than 100 people were wounded as a result. This follows, as you know, yesterday's deadly attack on a Baghdad restaurant popular with police. A suicide bomber blew himself up during the busy lunchtime hour, killing 23 people, including seven police. It happened, Zain, just 300 yards from the Green Zone, the heavily-fortified Green Zone, the home to the U.S. military and Iraq's transitional government -- Zain.

VERJEE: In Baghdad, CNN's Jennifer Eccleston.

CLANCY: Well, coming up, we're going to take a look at just the latest problems to hit the long-suffering people of Zimbabwe.

VERJEE: A controversial crackdown on makeshift housing is leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

CLANCY: Some say President Robert Mugabe is trying to punish those that he suspects oppose him politically. We'll be talking to a British member of parliament who secretly filmed the demolitions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: Welcome back. You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.

We're going to take a few moments now to focus on an ongoing crisis in Zimbabwe. Located in southern Africa, Zimbabwe is home to nearly 13 million people.

Now, this month, a member of Britain's parliament traveled from the capital all the way to Bulawayo, in the west of the country, documenting on videotape the destruction of illegal towns, often called shantytowns, that were built without permission. And some of the homes are made of brick, but all of them are being removed by the government.

Now, the government's position is it's a move to restore order, to preserve health and cut down on the crime in Zimbabwe cities. Some in Zimbabwe see it entirely differently.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY (voice-over): They managed to save a few tables and the sofa when they were forced out. Now they have somewhere to sit along the road and watch their home burn behind them.

This is Zimbabwe today, people being forced from their homes in Operation Clean Sweep. The government of President Robert Mugabe says it aims to restore order and rid cities of crime and unauthorized shantytowns. The Catholic Church says it is cruel and inhumane.

The opposition says it's pure politics. President Robert Mugabe, who celebrated 25 years in power this year, is waging war, they say, against those he suspects voted against him.

DAVID COCTHART, MP MOVEMENT FOR DEM. CHANGE: This war that Robert Mugabe is waging is waged against the poorest people in Zimbabwe at the height of winter, at a time when this country is facing its gravest food shortage. These people were already destitute. They are now being condemned to death by this regime.

CLANCY: The fires are usually set at night. Zimbabwean police come and give residents of shantytowns five minutes notice to gather what they can and get out.

Thus far, the government has forced as many as 200,000 people to leave urban areas, seized food and other belongings, and burned what's left to the ground so there's no possibility they can return. Videotape taken last week by British member of parliament Kate Hoey manages to show what has been talked about so much but not seen outside the country: government bulldozers flattening homes and shops around urban centers, smoldering ruins of what were once teeming, if poverty stricken, shantytowns, infants wrapped in blankets, toddlers cuddled up in makeshift beds alongside their destitute parents.

Families clamoring aboard trucks to take them back to rural villages. People trying to salvage cement blocks or other construction materials to rebuild somewhere else. But as this man said, he has no place to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's disappointing. Disappointing. There's nothing much I can say.

CLANCY: No one was willing to speak out openly against the government on camera. A few said it was obviously politics.

They came to Zimbabwe's cities searching for a way to make a living in a country with an unemployment rate of 70 percent. Now they're being forced to return to rural areas amid a drought, without homes, food or jobs. President Mugabe's government insists the operation will be continued and it is purely an internal matter.

In reality, there may be very little the outside world can do. Inside, the people of Zimbabwe can only hope and pray they will survive their own government.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Now, we have heard from the government of Zimbabwe on this issue. They were unable to come and talk with us on camera, but they did issue a statement.

The country's ambassador to Washington says the structures were built without any planning or permission. They pose a health hazard, and they are a source of crime. Simi Veki Mubako (ph) said something had to be done.

Right now we're joined from London by British parliamentarian Kate Hoey. She filmed that destruction of the shantytowns, part of her team.

You know, there's one question that everybody asks. Take a look at that video that you brought out. And it's pretty difficult to get this kind of video out of Zimbabwe. But they ask, what is this all about? Why is this being done?

KATE HOEY, BRITISH PARLIAMENT MEMBER: Well, it seems that it's a systematic attempt by Mugabe to drive out of the urban areas the poorest people, who many of them were displaced when the white farms were seized a few years ago, when those farm workers tended to go into the urban areas. Now they're driving them out, back into the rural areas, where it's much easier for the government of Mugabe to control both the food, which is very, very short, and control them politically.

But, of course, it's shocking, because those areas that I visited 18 months ago, when I also went in, particularly down in Bulawayo, Kolarne (ph), which was home to people for 25 years, we met people who had lived there. So to say that they're just kind of ad hoc shanty structures, some of them were really, really good buildings.

The church which I'd attended when I'd been there 18 months ago, totally destroyed. It is a shocking, deliberate policy of Mugabe, as well as, of course, attacking the informal sector and knocking down the markets.

CLANCY: Now, you talked with the opposition at length. Did you talk to President Mugabe, anybody in his government, and why?

HOEY: I think if I had attempted to talk to anyone in the government, I would have been probably put straight into a police station and kept there for some time, because nobody can get in really who is -- who is there politically. And I'm obviously a former British minister. So I think Mugabe would have quite liked to have held me for a day or two.

But there are some -- very many brave people in Zimbabwe who are helping to take these films. And we try to get them out as much as possible.

CLANCY: All right. Let me ask you this, though...

HOEY: It is...

CLANCY: ... just coming up very briefly, the G8 summit. Is this a problem that more money, debt relief can help?

HOEY: Absolutely. Well, there's no point -- you can't get rid of poverty in Africa until you get rid of dictators.

I hope President Bush and Tony Blair will make Zimbabwe a big issue, because the real force of pressure must be on Mbeki. The president of South Africa has not condemned this. He has tried to -- the government has condoned Mugabe. They can no longer get away with this, and it must be a number one issue at the G8. And I'm confident that your president will see that this is important.

CLANCY: All right. Kate Hoey, member of parliament, I want to thank you very much for the videotape, for the story, and for joining us here on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

HOEY: Thank you.

VERJEE: We're going to check the latest business news when we come back.

CLANCY: And then something from the time of Charles Dickens, life today in Kabul, Afghanistan. We're going to take you there, introduce you to some very young people living in some very tough circumstances.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: Let's check some stories now making news around the United States.

The U.S. Supreme Court is handing down more decisions ahead of the close of their current session. Justices have ordered a new trial in its 17-year-old murder case. They say the defendant currently on death row did not receive adequate counsel. The court also declined to consider resentencing for hundreds of convicted criminals, letting stand a lower court ruling.

The head of the CIA says the agency has "an excellent idea" of where Osama bin Laden is hiding. Porter Goss says the difficulty in capturing the al Qaeda leader is doing it in a manner acceptable to the international community.

Closing arguments are expected on Monday in the Edgar Ray Killen trial. Killen is charged in connection with the murder of three civil rights workers in 1964. The now 80-year-old defendant was first tried decades ago, but the all white jury deadlocked on a conviction.

CLANCY: Well, time for us to check on what is moving the markets in the U.S. And for that, it's over to Chris Huntington in New York City.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)