Skip to main content
CNN.com /TRANSCRIPTS

CNN TV
EDITIONS





CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK

Powell's Diplomacy Not Yet Effective; Interview of George Mitchell

Aired April 15, 2002 - 07:07   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to focus in what is going on in the Middle East this morning. The secretary of state's trip up north follows a day of meetings yesterday with both Yasser Arafat and Ariel Sharon. But that piece of shuttle diplomacy appears to have done little to bring Israel and the Palestinians closer a cease-fire.

Powell said his Sunday meeting with Arafat was useful and constructive. A follow-up meeting with Sharon produced no timetable for Israel's end of the occupation of Palestinian territories; something Arafat says is a stumbling block to any cease-fire.

Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell is no stranger to the complexities of the Middle East. The author of the Middle East peace plan that bears his name joins us now to talk more about the prospects for the peace in the region -- welcome back.

GEORGE MITCHELL, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: Thanks, Paula.

ZAHN: I want to warn you ahead of time, we may be interrupted by this breaking news out of Kandahar, but let's get started now.

First of all, do you see any objective signs of progress in this Powell mission?

MITCHELL: Well, the fact that they are still talking, that the secretary is still there, still working all sides to try to bring about movement toward a cease-fire, I think it's in itself, it may not be much, but I think it's hopeful.

It's awfully difficult in these situations to have kind of a minute-by-minute assessment of success or failure. We don't know what's gone on in detail behind closed doors, but I am confident that Secretary Powell feels that there is a sufficient basis to keep going, and that he is trying now to bring about simultaneous action by the two sides to move toward a cease-fire.

ZAHN: That's the critical point. Isn't there some sort of simultaneous action...

MITCHELL: Yes.

ZAHN: ... on both sides? Why is that so critical? MITCHELL: Well, the mistrust is so high. Neither side believes anything the other side says. That it's very difficult to get anyone to take a first step, to make what we would call a unilateral gesture. And so there has to be a way of creating some kind of action that is simultaneous or somewhat contemporaneous, so that you can have the steps taken in unison to get to a cease-fire and certainly a reduction of the violence of recent weeks.

ZAHN: Senator Mitchell, I apologize. We're going to very quickly go to Brent Sadler, who is going to bring us up to date on some of this breaking news we shared with you at the top of the hour that it is now confirmed that at least three American servicemen are dead. Brent, what's the very latest from there?

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK, Paula, I'm going to update you with what's been happening with Secretary of State Colin Powell's mission, expanded mission now to the Middle East. He left Beirut about an hour ago. He is about to touch down in the Syrian capital of Damascus about now, where he'll meet with Syria's President Bashar al- Assad.

Let's look at the reasons why he has come here. First and foremost, it's that deteriorating security situation along the Lebanese-Israeli border. For the past couple of weeks now, Hezbollah guerrillas have been pounding Israeli positions, fixed Israeli positions in occupied Arab territory at the foot of the Golan Heights. Israel has been responding with incremental escalations of that conflict with heavy artillery bombardments anew and airstrikes against suspected Hezbollah guerrillas hideouts.

Now, Colin Powell came here to really urge all of the parties, the Lebanese and the Syrians, which have a lot of influence over Hezbollah and the Lebanese authorities, to rein in Hezbollah attacks.

Now, Secretary Powell said before leaving Beirut -- quote -- excuse me -- "There's a very real danger the situation along the border will widen the conflict throughout the region." Secretary Powell also said it's essential for all those who are committed to peace to act immediately to stop aggressive actions along that entire border area.

Now, after meeting Lebanon's president Emile Lahoud, Secretary Powell went to see Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. Important to note, Paula, that Prime Minister Hariri will be in Washington on Wednesday expected then to be meeting with U.S. President George Bush to discuss the situation along the border there, and also what now appears to be clearly emerging from here, the attempt by Secretary of State Powell to not only create a cease-fire between Israelis and the Palestinians, but also to really bounce ahead and try and creating a springboard from what's going on now to bring about a whole comprehensive peace deal in the Middle East.

This is what Colin Powell said about the mission he has been sent on by President George Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: I know that he will say to you that he is committed to finding a political solution to bring peace to this region, and that is why he sent me here to talk about ending terror and violence, but with the clear understanding that that in and of itself won't be enough. Just as you said, all of the cease-fires in the world will not solve the problem until there is a political solution. And that is our commitment and we will devote all of our energies to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SADLER: For his part, Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri made it plain that Israeli incursions into Palestinian territory must stop; otherwise, he said, the whole region could explode. This is what Mr. Hariri had to say after meeting Secretary Powell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAFIQ HARIRI, LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER: I want to say publicly that what happened in the recent weeks in the West Bank created a sort of feeling among the Arab world, among the people in the Arab world, and among the leaders of the Arab world, and this is why need strong efforts from the United States and a strong commitment from President Bush and the secretary. And we believe strongly that security is important -- very important, but it is not a replacement of the peace from agreement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SADLER: And Secretary Powell hit the nail right on the head before leaving Lebanon -- he is about to touch down in Damascus now -- Powell said, the U.S. must -- quote -- "move aggressively to restart a political process, which will make the vision of the peace of peace in the Middle East become a reality" -- back to you, Paula.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: All right. Brent Sadler, thanks for that live report out of Beirut.

Let's go back to Senator George Mitchell -- sorry about the interruption. We thought we were going to get a report out of Kandahar.

Let's come back to what Brent Sadler talked about -- the challenge that Secretary of State Powell is up against. Isn't that trickiest part of this trick now what's going to come in Syria, when you know the Syrian government has been funding Hezbollah, which are these troops that have been firing shots up into Israel from Lebanon?

MITCHELL: Well, that's the danger of expansion and escalation, which the secretary is trying very hard to avoid, and which I hope he will be successful at, because if you add in a second front and open conflict there, then I think the danger really exists in a very sense for a much greater and wider conflagration. ZAHN: And we all know Syria is on the top of the U.S.'s state- sponsored terrorism list. What faith do you have that Syria will cooperate with the secretary of state and not widen this conflict?

MITCHELL: Well, of course, their self interest dictates that they don't want to get into a war with Israel, a war which they cannot win. And so, they will be prudent about that. In fact, they have already been troop movements by Syrians away from areas that are likely to be struck by Israel in retaliation.

The second point is that Syria, of course, did make very positive statements following September 11 with respect to al Qaeda, and the administration I think is trying to build on that. So I think it's very much in their self interest not to subject themselves to a chain of events that could lead to open conflict with Israel.

ZAHN: Let's come back to what Secretary of State Powell has to deal with when he gets back to Jerusalem a little bit later today. You now have Yasser Arafat saying that we're not going to be involved in any kind of cease-fire until the Israelis withdraw their troops from our occupied territories. If Powell agrees to that, wouldn't he in a sense be rewarding terrorism?

MITCHELL: Well, I don't think he has or will agree to it precisely as you have stated it and as Arafat has proposed. That's the whole purpose of negotiation. You begin with two sides disagreeing, and the test and the challenge is to come up with a process by which they can both move toward the objective that everybody says they want. So I think that's what Secretary Powell is trying to do.

ZAHN: So what is his next step? I know you say it's very important to have these simultaneous moves. All right. So Arafat offers something that you just can't -- that the U.S. just can't buy at this point. Then what is the next step?

MITCHELL: And the same thing on the other side, and he will go back and forth until he gets a process by which they are satisfied that they can move in a direction that will lead to a reduction in violence. It really isn't rocket science. It's trying to reconcile the two in a way that each can find politically acceptable and acceptable in terms of their long-term objectives. It's not easy.

And one of the difficulties is it is understandable. You members, ladies and gentlemen of the press, you want a blow-by-blow account of each meeting, did he succeed or fail? The process is much more difficult and complex than that. It requires going back and forth and trying to see where there is a common approach, a common interest that might be possible.

I think it will be. I am an optimist by nature, but I think...

ZAHN: You have to be.

MITCHELL: Yes, I do. And I think it will happen.

ZAHN: Do you think this leads to an international peace conference similar to the scope we saw in Madrid many years ago?

MITCHELL: That was proposed yesterday by Prime Minister Sharon, actually proposed last week for the first time. It's possible that something like that could come out of it, probably not precisely in the manner that he proposed. He proposed a conference from which Arafat would be excluded.

At this moment at least, it's highly unlikely that the leaders of the other Arab nations would attend a summit from which Arafat were excluded. There may be other developments that cause that idea to be massaged in some way or other, and Secretary Powell was very careful neither to accept it or to reject it. He said it's on the table, along with many other suggestions.

ZAHN: We've just got about 15 seconds left. Very quickly, Israeli government officials are now saying a complete withdrawal may not happen for two weeks. How impotent does that make the United States government look?

MITCHELL: Well, it's obviously a direct challenge to the president, who was very clear and emphatic in his request. But I don't think it's fatal, and the bonds that we have with Israel are strong enough to, I think, endure this kind of difficulty. But it does hurt I think in terms of overall credibility, not just there, but around the world.

ZAHN: Senator Mitchell, thanks for dropping by -- thanks for your patience as we...

MITCHELL: Thank you, Paula.

ZAHN: ... went back and forth between live shots this morning -- good to see you again.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.

Mitchell>


 
 
 
 


 Search   

Back to the top