02 April 2002
ABC News Interview with Powell on Mideast Conflict
(Says U.S. pressing Arafat to do more to control violence) (920)
Following is the transcript of Secretary of State Colin Powell's
interview with ABC April 2 about the conflict in the Middle East:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman April 2, 2002
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell Interview on ABC's Good Morning
America with Diane Sawyer
April 2, 2002
(7:10 a.m. EST)
MS. SAWYER: Good morning, Mr. Secretary.
SECRETARY POWELL: Good morning, Diane.
MS. SAWYER: There is another report out this morning that Ariel Sharon
has once again suggested that the resolution of this is exile for
Yasser Arafat, a "one-way ticket out," in his words. Would the United
States accept that?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, we think that Chairman Arafat still has a role
to play. We believe that as a leader, he can speak out against the
kind of terrorist activity we have seen. We think he can do a better
job in calming the passions of his people. We think he could do more
with respect to bringing organizations under control.
Sending him into exile will just give him another place from which to
conduct the same kinds of activities and give the same messages that
he's giving now. So until he decides that he's going to leave the
country, it seems to me we need to work with him where he is. And
where he is, is in Ramallah. And I'm pleased that the Israelis have
committed that they would not do anything to harm him or to kill him.
And we are continuing to press Mr. Arafat to do more with respect to
bringing this violence under control, and to speaking out against
these kinds of terrorist activities, which are destroying the promise
for peace.
MS. SAWYER: But Prime Minister Sharon has said that this could go on
for weeks. How long are you prepared to let him keep Yasser Arafat
enclosed and isolated in that room?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, it's not quite "in that room." He has
flexibility. And I have talked to Prime Minister Sharon; and he has
food, he has water, he has utilities, and has the ability to
communicate, as we all know.
I'm not sure how long the Israeli incursion will keep up. Prime
Minister Sharon and Foreign Minister Peres and other Israeli officials
have said that they don't intend to stay in these areas permanently,
and so I think it's some -- perhaps some weeks, but I don't know.
That's up to them. But what they're doing --
MS. SAWYER: You will accept this going on some weeks?
SECRETARY POWELL: -- what they're doing, what they're doing is routing
out terrorists. What they're doing is picking up weapons. What they're
doing is trying to destroy this infrastructure of terrorism. And we
understand that.
But we also know that, as they say, they will have to leave these
areas in due course. And at that point, we've got to have a process
ready to move forward, to get into a ceasefire and into political
discussions. And that's what we're focusing on.
MS. SAWYER: A couple of quick questions. Secretary Rumsfeld said
yesterday that he had talked to you, and that he is ruling out
American peacekeeping troops in the region. Is that correct?
SECRETARY POWELL: We have no request for American peacekeeping troops,
and we have never said we would send American peacekeeping troops in.
MS. SAWYER: So they're ruled out?
SECRETARY POWELL: Last year, when the President met with the other G-8
leaders in Italy, we committed at that time that as we got into the
Tenet work plan and the Mitchell peace process, there would be some
small number of American monitors that might go in to help stabilize
the situation. But we have not been considering American troops going
in as peacekeepers, which is where this report got started two days
ago.
MS. SAWYER: I know that you're following the situation from here, but
so many people have called for high-level presence there. What will it
take for you to go personally over to the Middle East?
SECRETARY POWELL: I've been twice, and I'm ready to go again as soon
as a purpose would be served. We thought we sent a very high-level
presence when the Vice President went just a few days ago, a few weeks
ago. And he met with the Israeli leaders, and he said he was willing
to meet with Chairman Arafat, to leave the area, come back and meet
with Chairman Arafat, if certain conditions were met. And the
conditions were rather easy to meet, if you were determined to do
that, and that was to get the violence under some level of control,
and especially commit yourself to the Tenet work plan.
At this late date, I say to Chairman Arafat, unconditionally commit to
the Tenet work plan. Let's get the two sides talking to one another on
security arrangements to stop this violence. Let's move forward. We
know that suicide bombers will not achieve the purposes of the
Palestinian people. And we also know that ultimately the IDF, the
Israeli Defense Forces, will finish what they're doing and have to
leave the occupied territories where they are now doing their
operations, because they will -- this will run to an end in due
course. And we'll be right back to the need for a political process, a
security process, to get us moving forward.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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