30 June 2003
Powell Hopes Gaza Withdrawal Will Increase Confidence in Abbas
(Speaks on CBS's The Early Show June 30) (870)
Following is a transcript of Secretary of State Colin Powell's June 30
interview on the U.S. television morning news program The Early Show
on CBS:
(begin transcript)
Interview on CBS's The Early Show with Harry Smith
Secretary Colin L. Powell
Washington, DC
June 30, 2003
MR. SMITH: Mr. Secretary, good morning. Good to see you again.
SECRETARY POWELL: Good morning, Harry. How are you?
MR. SMITH: Very well. Ariel Sharon's spokesperson over the weekend
rejects the ceasefire. He said it's only an excuse for these folks to
regroup and attack again. Is he right?
SECRETARY POWELL: What we know is that a ceasefire, in and of itself,
won't be enough, because if you leave the capability there, the
capability then can be used at some point in the future. But
nevertheless, it is at least a step in the right direction toward the
elimination of that terrorist capability, and I think we should see it
in that context.
The important step over the weekend was the transfer of authority of
Gaza from the Israeli Defense Forces to Palestinian Security Forces,
and that is important and that is significant, as your setup piece
indicated.
What we now hope is that these organizations -- Hamas, Palestinian
Islamic Jihad and Fatah, the al-Aqsa Brigades in Fatah -- will stick
to their commitment of no terror or violence, and then we can move
forward and give Prime Minister Abbas greater encouragement to move
down the path of the roadmap.
MR. SMITH: But Hamas --
SECRETARY POWELL: We can't let --
MR. SMITH: But Hamas and Islamic --
SECRETARY POWELL: I'm sorry, Harry.
MR. SMITH: But Hamas and Islamic Jihad both said, "We want prisoners
released. We want Yasser Arafat let out of his compound." They want
the Israelis to stop individual attacks on individual members of
theirs. Is Israel likely to meet any of those demands?
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, they will meet some of those -- not demands,
but they will meet some of those elements because they are committed
to do so under the roadmap. They will be releasing more prisoners.
They will be opening up the area for Palestinian commerce, for
Palestinians to go back and forth. That is what they did in Gaza.
But Prime Minister Sharon and the Government of Israel, the State of
Israel, has a responsibility for the security of its citizens, and
they will do what is necessary to protect their citizens. They also
recognize that when they take actions to protect their citizens, those
actions have consequences.
Right now, both sides have made a commitment to the roadmap, both
sides to take steps to achieve the goals of the roadmap, and both
sides have started down that path to peace. And I hope we can keep
that progress moving forward.
So far, on the Israeli side we have seen the taking down of
unauthorized outposts. We have seen the release of some prisoners. And
now we have seen the transfer of Gaza. On the Palestinian side, the
Palestinians have assumed responsibility for Gaza. They are rebuilding
their capability to police and guard Gaza, and we hope Bethlehem
within the next several days, and we hope that will spread.
So it is a step at a time. Both sides are now taking steps down the
path laid out by the roadmap.
MR. SMITH: President Bush made it clear last week that he wants the
terrorist groups dismantled. You started to mention Abu Abbas just a
moment ago. Is he going to be able to disarm the terrorists?
SECRETARY POWELL: We want the terrorists disarmed, and Prime Minister
Abbas recognizes that he cannot be the prime minister of a Palestinian
state that is based on democratic principles if he has terrorist
organizations that have guns, that have weapons, and have an intent to
use those weapons that are outside the control of the state. So
ultimately, this will have to be dealt with. Prime Minister Abbas
wants to have time to deal with it, and he needs to build up his
capability to deal with it.
One step in that regard is getting Gaza back under his control. Now
that the people of Gaza will be able to move freely back and forth,
they will see that Prime Minister Abbas and his new leadership
achieved this for them, and therefore, hopefully, they will invest in
him more power and authority and start looking away from Hamas,
saying, "What have you gotten for us after all these months of terror
and violence? You have brought us not one step closer to peace, not
one day closer to a Palestinian state, and maybe we should, as a
people, begin thinking about the roadmap and not thinking about terror
and support of terrorist organizations."
MR. SMITH: And weekly visits from the Bush Administration seem not to
hurt either, I guess?
SECRETARY POWELL: If that's what's required, we'll do it. I was there
last week. Condi was there this week.
MR. SMITH: All right. Secretary Powell, thanks so much. We do
appreciate it.
SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much, Harry. [End]
Released on June 30, 2003
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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