SPAIN: U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL SAYS HE HAS SPOKEN TO ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON AHEAD OF HIS VISIT

Record ID: 222966

  • Title: SPAIN: U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL SAYS HE HAS SPOKEN TO ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON AHEAD OF HIS VISIT
  • Date: 12th April 2002
  • Summary: (W4) MADRID, SPAIN (APRIL 11, 2002) (REUTERS) 1. SLV US AND RUSSIAN DELEGATIONS MEETING 0.05 2. MV US SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL DURING MEETING 0.10 3. SCU RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IGOR IVANOV DURING MEETING 0.14 4. SLV IVANOV AND POWELL ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE ROOM; MEDIA (3 SHOTS) 0.36 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) POWELL SAYING "The mission is still on, I am not concerned about it I am looking forward to the opportunity to meet Prime Minister Sharon and Chairman Arafat, and during my conversation with Prime Minister Sharon we talked about my meeting with Chairman Arafat and so I am looking forward to these consultations and other leaders within the Israeli government and so now I'm anxious to get to the region and conduct these discussions." 6. SLV NEWS CONFERENCE ROOM 1.03 6. SLV PRESS CONFERENCE 1.08 7. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) IVANOV SAYING "We are ready to provide all the necessary support to the secretary of state in his very complicated mission. I want to underline that we all are interested in the success of this mission, we want it to bring a real positive result and to show the beginning of the way out of the conflict. I repeat "the beginning of the way out", because there will be no easy solutions here. It's an extremely complicated mission, but we have very high hopes for it." 1.36 8. SCU REPORTER WRITING NOTES 1.41 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) POWELL SAYING "Because I do not like wallowing with pessimists. I am going in here because it is necessary for me to go, it is necessary to represent President Bush and his desire to see this crisis brought to an end and to get us back to a track that will lead to discussions. I am proud to be going, I am pleased to be going as a representative of President Bush and the American people and with the statements I received yesterday with my colleagues here to some extent as a representative of the international community to make these points and get us onto a positive track and its what I should be doing, it's what secretary of states do." 2.27 10. SCU REPORTER LISTENING TO RECORDER 2.31 11. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) IVANOV SAYING "As for reduction of the nuclear warheads and missiles, it is one of the most complicated issues which are being discussed now. There are minor differences in the way the United States and Russia view this problem and we are continuing negotiations. Russia stands for real, not virtual reduction. We want both sides to have a realistic idea of how many warheads and missiles each side has." 3.16 12. SLV NEWS CONFERENCE ROOM 3.20 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 27th April 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MADRID, SPAIN
  • Country: Spain
  • Reuters ID: LVA544RS2TZ7ZG1LVRYU4CAYNIID
  • Story Text: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he had spoken
    to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, ahead of his visit to
    the region aimed at halting Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

    U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell took an upbeat view
    of his Middle East mission on Thursday (April 11, 2002) after
    talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

    "I don't like wallowing with pessimists", Powell told a
    news conference in Madrid after talks with Russian Foreign
    Minister Igor Ivanov.

    "I'm proud to be going and pleased to be going as a
    representative of my government, as a representative of
    President (George W.) Bush ... and to some extent as a
    representative of the international community," he said.

    Powell is due to arrive in Jerusalem on Thursday evening,
    after a stopover in Jordan, with much of the world's hopes for
    halting Israeli-Palestinian fighting riding on his shoulders.

    Powell said Sharon had told him in a telephone
    conversation on Thursday morning that Israeli forces had
    pulled out of two West Bank towns and some 22 villages but
    there have been some other (military) movements taking place.

    The two men had also discussed Powell's plans to meet
    Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and so I am looking forward
    to these consultations, he said.

    "The mission is still on. I am not concerned about it. I'm
    looking forward to the opportunity to meet with Prime Minister
    Sharon and with Chairman Arafat," Powell said.

    Israeli troops have surrounded the Palestinian president
    in his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah since
    March 29 to try to isolate him in an offensive launched after
    a wave of suicide attacks against Israelis. Israel refused to
    let European Union (EU) officials visit Arafat last week.

    An Israeli political source said a meeting between Powell
    and Arafat was in the works for Saturday (April 13) in
    Ramallah.

    Since he set out from Washington, prospects for his trip
    appear to have darkened. The Israeli army remains in
    Palestinian-ruled areas despite repeated international calls
    for a pullout and a new suicide bombing killed eight people
    near the Israeli city of Haifa on Wednesday (April 10).


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register