02 April 2002
Powell Interviews on CNN on Mideast Conflict
(Says Bush administration deeply involved in peace effort) (940)
Following is the transcript of Secretary of State Colin Powell's
interview with CNN April 2 about the conflict between Israelis and
Palestinians:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman April 2, 2002
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell Interview On CNN's American Morning
with Paula Zahn
April 2, 2002
(7:06 a.m. EST)
MS. ZAHN: And joining us now from the State Department is Secretary of
State Colin Powell. Welcome back. Good to see you again, sir.
SECRETARY POWELL: Hi, Paula. How are you?
MS. ZAHN: I am fine, thanks. So you just heard what your predecessor
had to say last night. Will you be traveling to the region?
SECRETARY POWELL: I think that Madeleine was saying that I should be
deeply involved in the process, and I am deeply involved in the
process. And the process was producing results up until last week. As
a result of the United States efforts, both at the level of the
President, the Vice President, myself and my colleagues, we had helped
the Arabs shape a summit last week that endorsed Crown Prince
Abdullah's vision of peace and all of the Arab nations recognizing
Israel and having normal relations. We had succeeded in putting
together a UN resolution two weeks ago that called for the creation of
a Palestinian state and a ceasefire. We had succeeded through our
efforts with Prime Minister Sharon to encourage him to set aside his
requirement for seven days of quiet. We sent the Vice President to the
region, and he showed a willingness to return to the region to meet
with Chairman Arafat if some conditions were met.
And then, because both sides indicated they were ready to get started
again, we sent General Zinni to the region, ready to start the Tenet
work plan, which is the work plan that allows both sides to take steps
that will lead to a ceasefire, and then rapidly through that ceasefire
to the Mitchell process, which rapidly gets us into a political
process and negotiations.
All of those things were in train. The United States, to include your
Secretary of State was deeply involved in it. And then, it all came a
cropper last week, when we had the Passover massacre, and 22 Israelis
were killed in a suicide bomb. Suicide bombs that are going off at a
rate of one a day, these actions perpetrated by terrorists who do not
want to see General Zinni succeed, do not want to see the Mitchell
plan or the Tenet work plan succeed, destroying the vision of the
Palestinian people and killing innocent Israelis. I am prepared to go
anywhere, anytime, when it serves a useful purpose, but I can assure
you that I am deeply engaged every day for hours of the day, as are my
colleagues in the Bush Administration, to include the President.
MS. ZAHN: Secretary Powell, do you think it was helpful this morning
that Ariel Sharon offered, once again, Mr. Arafat exile? Is that going
to move the two sides any closer to the peace table?
SECRETARY POWELL: Oh, I don't think it will have any effect one way or
the other. Chairman Arafat is head of the Palestinian Authority, and
he is recognized, whether you approve of it or not, as the leader of
the Palestinian people. And he will be the leader of the Palestinian
people whether he is sitting in Ramallah or whether he is sitting in
some exile location elsewhere in the Middle East or somewhere in
Europe. He will still have that role.
So it seems to me let's deal with him where he is, and let's continue
to apply pressure to him and other leaders of the Palestinian people
to get into the Tenet work plan. In due course, the Israeli Defense
Forces will finish the military actions they have under way. They are
trying to uproot terrorist infrastructure, seize weapons, things of
that nature. That will come to an end. They have no intention of
staying in those occupied areas. It's not something they can do over
time.
And when they withdraw, we will find that we are going to need a
political process to move forward, and that process is there waiting.
It is the Tenet work plan. It is the Mitchell peace process, which
gives us a political solution or a route to a political solution. And
the United States will be engaged. General Zinni will be engaged. I
will be engaged. And when it is useful for people to travel, such as
the Vice President did two weeks, ago, we will travel.
MS. ZAHN: I know the President has been loath to call Yasser Arafat a
terrorist, because he has said he has signed onto the peace process.
But how many more days of these kinds of activities, suicide bombings,
can go on before you will declare him a terrorist?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, these are terrorist activities, and we condemn
them. There is no question what they are. They are killing innocent
civilians. But Chairman Arafat still has a legitimate role within the
Palestinian movement, and we think at this point it is best to deal
with him in that role and see if we can move the process forward,
rather than to designate him as such.
MS. ZAHN: Okay, our time is up. Secretary Powell, thank you for
joining us this morning on American Morning. Always appreciate your
presence here.
SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much.
MS. ZAHN: Good luck.
SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you.
(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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