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Crisis in the Middle East: Expectations Remain Reserved For Tomorrow's Peace Summit

Aired October 15, 2000 - 6:03 p.m. ET

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

JOIE CHEN, CNN ANCHOR: Most of the leaders now headed to the emergency summit in Egypt have low expectations about what can be accomplished. The one-day summit at Sharm-el-Sheikh is an effort to stop intense violence between Palestinians and Israelis that has left at least 100 people dead. U.S. President Clinton is on his way to join the meeting. We'll get a report from the White House in a moment.

First, however, CNN's Jerusalem bureau chief Mike Hanna joins us from Jerusalem with a look at what to expect -- Mike.

MIKE HANNA, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Joie, a couple of incidents on this day underscore how unstable the region is. A 30- year-old Palestinian died in a West Bank hospital of wounds incurred in a clash with Israeli forces three days ago. And an Israeli businessman was kidnapped somewhere out of Israel. The man, a reservist officer, was 54 years old.

This follows an earlier claim by Hezbollah that it had captured a senior Israeli army officer. And while the leaders prepared for the summit, their followers took to the streets, some of them in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, a demonstration by those opposed to the summit meeting -- here, deep criticism against the Palestinian Authority president, Yasser Arafat, for his decision to decision to go to Sharm- el-Sheikh and meet with Ehud Barak.

And, as the leaders prepared for the meeting, there was no letup in the angry rhetoric that has passed between the two sides. And here we have comments from the Israeli prime minister and the chief Palestinian. Both of them exchanged angry comments earlier on in the day, Ehud Barak once again repeating his assertion that it was the Palestinians who were responsible for the violence.

From the Palestinian side: once again the contention that it is Israel who has the responsibility to end the conflict -- so the leaders now preparing, within the next few hours, to travel to Sharm- el-Sheikh for the meeting. They'll be taking with them a shopping list of demands. Let's take a look at the goals that each side hopes to achieve.

The Palestinian goals: Well, once -- first of all, what they want to do is get an end to the -- get an International Commission of Inquiry. They will also want, they say, and end to Israeli military action. They want the withdraw of Israeli forces to positions that were occupied before the violence broke out, and an end to the Israeli use of force.

They are also demanding the release -- from the Israeli point of view -- the Israelis have asked for an end to attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians. They have demanded, too, the rearrest of Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants, freed recently by the Palestinian Authority, and an undertaking that the Palestinian media stops what are described as inflammatory attacks against Israel.

While the setting for the talks is the tranquil Egyptian resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh, the tranquil aspects in sharp contrast to the urgency of what is a deeply critical meeting. And the international mediators who will be present at the meeting, among them: U.S. President Bill Clinton.

The U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will be hoping that, by this time tomorrow, the leaders would have agreed on a common strategy to end the violence, that they could create a stable climate in which a peace process -- which has been destroyed by this round of violence -- could resume -- Joie.

CHEN: Mike Hanna for us from Jerusalem.

Meantime, President Clinton is on his way to the summit, along with his secretary of state, Madeleine Albright and national security adviser, Samuel Berger. They're looking for ways to keep violence in the region from spreading.

CNN White House correspondent Kelly Wallace now with a view from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. President Clinton, joined by his secretary of state and his national security adviser, headed off to the high-stakes Mideast summit, with his aides continuing to lower expectations even before that meeting gets underway.

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Look, we don't have a lot of illusions about what can be accomplished at this summit.

SAMUEL BERGER, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: It's not easy. And the tensions are high in the area. But I think the alternative is more violence, more bloodshed, more dying.

WALLACE: The U.S. will take that message to Egypt, where its primary goal is ending the violence which has claimed about 100 lives. The White House is careful not to assign blame, but Sunday, the president's advisers stepped up the pressure on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

ALBRIGHT: We all know that Arafat is in charge of the Palestinian Authority. He has the responsibility for controlling the violence. We think he should do more. WALLACE: Another immediate goal for the U.S. president: trying to broker a compromise over a fact-finding commission to investigate what led to the crisis. Beyond that, the White House concedes, until there is a -- quote -- "cooling-off period," there is little chance of getting the two sides back to the peace table, back to where they were this summer, almost on the brink of a comprehensive peace deal at Camp David.

NAOMI WEINBERGER, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: I'm not hopeful really serious permanent-status talks anytime soon. I think the Barak government can't offered what it had offered back in July. And this will not be available to Mr. Arafat anytime soon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And before leaving for the summit, the president was briefed by his national security aides. He also made phone calls through some leaders in the region, including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

In a statement, Mr. Barak's office said the two leaders agreed there would be no preconditions to the talks. The prime minister also emphasized to the U.S. leader that he expected the summit to be handled in a -- quote -- "fair and balanced way" -- Joie.

CHEN: Kelly, is there a "plan b" being offered by the administration? I mean, if the summit only meets the lowest expectations possible, do they have some other line to go to after the day in Sharm-el-Sheikh?

WALLACE: Well, they're really not sort of addressing that at the moment. They're really going -- they're hoping the leaders can meet face-to-face, start talking to each other again, perhaps -- perhaps -- start trusting one another again -- the White House really hoping that what will come out of Monday is a joint declaration condemning the violence, both sides agreeing to a cease-fire, more cooperation between their security forces -- next steps are really up in the air -- Joie.

CHEN: Kelly Wallace for us at the White House.

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