Sunday Morning News

Middle East Crisis: Barak Halts Peace Process; Arab League Condemns Israeli Violence

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In the Middle East, the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak, has declared a timeout in the peace process. That's in reaction to the conclusion a few hours ago of the Arab League summit in Cairo. The bottom line from the summit, money and moral support for the Palestinian cause, but not the hard line against Israel some had hoped.

We'll hear from CNN's Ben Wedeman in Cairo on the details of the league's final communique.

But first we go to CNN's Jerrold Kessel, who is in Jerusalem -- Jerrold.

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The harsh words and the strong condemnation of Israel in that Arab summit looked upon in Israel as only part of the picture, and Prime Minister Ehud Barak, in his first reaction to the Arab summit conclusion, chose to praise President Mubarak of Egypt, saying that he had trod the moderate path and had headed that summit towards a path of moderation rather than to extremism.

And this, the welcome reaction in Israel. But at the same time as Mr. Barak was making that reaction to the Arab summit's conclusion, as he convened his cabinet in Jerusalem this morning, Mr. Barak reiterated that he believed that this -- that the peacemaking process in the Middle East was in need of a time-out.

This the position that Mr. Barak reemphasized this morning as he spoke to his ministers, saying that this was the only possible consequence of the events of the last three weeks and of the assessment that the Palestinians have not reined in violence in the West Bank and Gaza.

Mr. Barak did not -- pointedly did not say when he would carry out this threat, if you like, of putting the peacemaking process on hold and carrying out the time-out or how long it would last. But this was also in opposition to some of his own more dovish ministers, who had questioned the wisdom of such a policy. Mr. Barak reaffirming that Israel, he meant to go ahead with a time-out on the peace process, which could put peacemaking on hold for some time, undefined time.

Now, we're joined on the telephone from Ramallah on the West Bank by the leading Palestinian legislator and spokeswoman, Hanan Ashrawi.

Ms. Ashrawi, thank you very much for joining us. Your reaction, first, to that position adopted by Prime Minister Barak this morning again in Israeli cabinet saying that the peace process is in need of a timeout.

HANAN ASHRAWI, PALESTINIAN COUNCIL MEMBER: Well, it's very clear that Mr. Barak's intention all along, intentions all along, have been to undermine the peace process, to evade it, to avoid it, and actually he left it in tatters, because what he's doing right now is really waging war against a captive Palestinian population, and he has managed to rob the peace process of any credibility, any legitimacy, any substance, and any relationship to reality.

So it exists only as a fiction in the minds of the few, but primarily in the minds of the Arab leaders, who still think that they can salvage peace from the jaws of destruction and war that is being waged against us.

And at the same time, I think this really exposes Barak's real intentions when it comes to peacemaking, is that either we beat you into submission and accepting what we want, or we will suspend the peace process and we will pursue a policy which is entirely anti- peace.

KESSEL: Pointedly, as you mention, Ms. Ashrawi, the Arab leaders did say in their position, even though they had a strong position condemning Israel, that they believe the peace process should continue. Your reaction to the overall position adopted by the Arab leaders in Cairo.

ASHRAWI: Well, the Arab leaders' statement and the resolutions are certainly extremely diluted, watered down, as may have been euphemistically described as being moderate and rational. But at the same time, they really failed to rise to the challenge. They evaded direct responsibility, they referred issues of accountability and issues of protection for the Palestinians to the -- to Geneva and to New York.

They wanted the Geneva Human Rights Commission to carry out its job and to send a fact-finding mission on human rights. They also asked the U.N. to carry out its own international protection and bring in international forces. And, of course, a tribunal to try war criminals, knowing full well that this is precisely where the U.S. will veto any type of resolution that is remotely critical of Israel.

So having done that...

KESSEL: So you say...

ASHRAWI: ... then they very (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

KESSEL: Are you saying that the -- Sorry. Are you saying that the Palestinian people, will Yassir Arafat himself feel let down by the Arab -- by the rest of the Arab world? ASHRAWI: I think so. I think among the Palestinian people, I have heard quite a few saying that this certainly is whimper and not a bang, that this certainly falls below their expectations. There is a sense of collective letdown, a sense of disappointment.

Many said, While we didn't expect any better, because the Arab leaders had cast their lot with the U.S. and were taking their orders from the U.S. directly, rather than responding to their own people, who are crying out for some kind of justice, for some kind of political will, and for some kind of strategy that would be translated into a plan of action on the ground.

The only resolutions that were taken that were binding are really extremely hesitant and very apologetic and very partial and not even binding in many ways. So in a sense (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

KESSEL: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

ASHRAWI: ... sort of expectations.

KESSEL: Thank you very much, Hanan Ashrawi, speaking there from Ramallah.

But even as the Arab leaders were concluding their summit, more violence on the ground, scattered clashes in the West Bank and in Gaza, a 14-year-old Palestinian boy, he had been described as 12-year- old, but his family say he was 14, shot and killed in a clash near the Gaza Israel (UNINTELLIGIBLE) near a army outpost in -- within the Gaza Strip, where several hundred young Palestinians threw stones and pelted that Israeli army position. One Palestinian shot dead, the 15th Palestinian fatality in the last three days of these clashes.

Watching the unfolding Arab summit and its conclusions in Cairo was CNN's Cairo bureau chief Ben Wedeman from the reaction in the post, aftermath of the Cairo summit. We go over to him now -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jerrold, it was a strongly worded denunciation that came out of the meeting of this emergency summit of the 22 men member Arab League. They called for an end of normalization of ties between Arab states and Israel. They called for the establishment of a fund totaling of approximately $1 billion to help the Palestinians establish their state and to help those Palestinians who have been harmed in the recent violence.

They called for a U.N. investigation, a fact-finding investigation to look into the causes of this recent outbreak of violence. They called for a U.N. presence on the ground to, as the communique said, protect the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. And they also called for a war crimes tribunal to try the -- what are being described here in Cairo as Israeli war criminals, those Israelis involved in the recent violence.

And in his statement, reading this statement after the end of the summit meeting, Arab League Secretary General Esmat Abdel-Meguid placed the blame squarely on Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ESMAT ABDEL-MEGUID, ARAB LEAGUE SECRETARY GENERAL (through translator): The Arab leaders express their condemnation for the Israeli escalation of their malpractices and provocative actions while the whole region was preparing and creating an atmosphere, favorable atmosphere, for a fair and comprehensive peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: Now, despite those very strong words, there was some talk of peace at this conference. Clearly, from the agenda that came out of it, the communique does underscore the Arabs' continued -- or most of the Arabs' continued commitment to a peaceful settlement to the Middle Eastern conflict.

And Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, in his closing statement, did strike a conciliatory note.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. HOSNI MUBARAK, EGYPT (through translator): To our peace seekers and -- we seek a safe, secure future for the coming generations, for our children, for the youngsters (ph), on condition that the other parties believe that this message is not out of (UNINTELLIGIBLE), it's not -- I mean, convey the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It necessitates a responsible response from the other party that is up to the standard and prerequisites of peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: Now, just a little while ago, we heard my colleague, Jerrold Kessel, talking about Mr. Barak, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's decision to call a time off in the peace process. Now, the message out of this summit is the same, actually. We heard Egyptian Foreign Minister Amre Moussa said that as long as the fighting goes on, there will be no more negotiations.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting live from Cairo.

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