WEST BANK/JERUSALEM: US SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL HEADS FOR HIS MEETING IN RAMALLAH WITH PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT / ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER PERES HOPEFUL FOR BREAKTHROUGH
Record ID:
222998
WEST BANK/JERUSALEM: US SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL HEADS FOR HIS MEETING IN RAMALLAH WITH PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT / ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER PERES HOPEFUL FOR BREAKTHROUGH
- Title: WEST BANK/JERUSALEM: US SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL HEADS FOR HIS MEETING IN RAMALLAH WITH PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT / ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER PERES HOPEFUL FOR BREAKTHROUGH
- Date: 13th April 2002
- Summary: (W3) HIZMEH CHECKPOINT, WEST BANK (APRIL 14, 2002) (REUTERS) 1. PAN: CONVOY TRANSPORTING US SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL DRIVING TOWARDS CHECKPOINT 0.18 2. SV: ISRAELI SOLDIERS AT THE CHECKPOINT CONNECTING JERUSALEM TO THE WEST BANK 0.22 3. PAN: MORE OF CONVOY AS IT PASSES THROUGH CHECKPOINT 0.42 4. VARIOUS SECURITY AT CHECKPOINT (3 SHOTS) 1.02 5. LV: VEHICLES LINED UP AT CHECKPOINT 1.07 (W4) JERUSALEM (APRIL 14, 2002) (REUTERS) 6. MV/SV: ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER SHIMON PERES AND FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFICIAL LAYING WREATH AT MEMORIAL (2 SHOTS) 1.35 7. SCU: WREATHS PLACED NEAR MEMORIAL FLAME 1.40 8. SV: (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER SHIMON PERES, SAYING "I don't think it can be judged by one visit, one meeting. Not what I expect but what I hope, I clearly hope that we shall arrive at a breakthrough. The purpose is not to continue the present situation or to paralyse. There are steps towards peace and we shall continue to act." (SOUNDBITE) (English) PERES, CONTINUING SAYING: "In Jenin apparently many buildings were full of mines. There was no way to handle them, otherwise then unfortunately to destroy some of them. Not only the buildings were mined but also the people themselves. Many of them had explosive belts on their chest. And lets not forget that this was a bitter struggle, bitter strike. We have lost 23 soldiers." 2.43 (W3) JENIN, WEST BANK (APRIL 13, 2002) (REUTERS) 9. MV: PEOPLE WALKING THROUGH STREET / WOMAN CARRYING BABY 2.51 10. SV: SANDBAGGED POSITION 2.56 11. WIDE VIEW DESERTED STREET / SANDBAGGED POSITION 3.01 12. SCU: BULLET-RIDDEN WALL OF BUILDING 3.06 13. WIDE VIEW BULLET-RIDDEN BUILDING 3.10 14. SV: INTERIOR OF DAMAGED HOME / MAN AND YOUNG BOY STANDING AMONGST DEBRIS 3.19 15. SV: ANOTHER FAMILY INSPECTING DAMAGE TO HOUSE 3.25 16. GENERAL/CLOSER VIEW OF DAMAGE TO BUILDINGS FROM WINDOW (2 SHOTS) 3.35 17. MV: MORE OF DAMAGED BUILDINGS 3.40 18. INTERIOR BUILDING / PAN TO BODIES LYING ON FLOOR 3.44 19. CU/SV: MORE OF BODIES LYING ON FLOOR (2 SHOTS) 3.51 20. MV: WOMAN SITTING ON FLOOR IN ROOM 3.55 21. CU: HALF LOAF OF BREAD AND MILK CARTON ON FLOOR 4.00 22. SV: MORE OF WOMAN SITTING ON FLOOR 4.03 23. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNIDENTIFIED MAN, SAYING "We demand that Minister Powell (US Secretary of State Colin Powell) come and visit the camp and make his decisions once he's seen the situation. There is no milk for children, no food and no electricity." 4.32 (W3) BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (APRIL 13-14, 2002) (REUTERS) (NIGHT VIEWS) 24. LV: NIGHT VIEW CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY 4.38 25. SLV: MORE OF THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY / AUDIO OF GUNFIRE 4.44 26. GV: FIRE BURNING IN BUILDING NEAR THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY 4.49 27. SLV: SMOKE RISING FROM COMPOUND OF CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY 4.53 28. VARIOUS NIGHT VIEWS OF CHURCH / AUDIO OF GUNFIRE / EXPLOSIONS (2 SHOTS) 5.03 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 28th April 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: HIZMEH CHECKPOINT, JENIN, BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK / JERUSALEM
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Reuters ID: LVAHOO94YR0UVCI7KN7VAVCU8SQ
- Story Text: The convoy transporting US Secretary of State Colin
Powell passed through the checkpoint connecting Jerusalem to
the West Bank as he made his way towards Ramallah to meet
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said he was hopeful
for a breakthrough between the two sides in talks with Powell
but did not expect major results from one visit.
The day before, scenes of devastation at the Jenin refugee
camp accompanied Palestinian accusations that Israel was
carrying out a "massacre" in Jenin in which hundreds were killed.
Overnight, Israeli forces pressed on with their offensive
in the West Bank and killed a Palestinian man at a hostel next
to Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, where troops have been
locked in a standoff with gunmen for 12 days.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell met Yasser Arafat in the
Palestinian leader's besieged Ramallah headquarters on Sunday
(April 14, 2002) after failing to persuade Israel to end a crushing
16-day-old military assault on the West Bank.
Witnesses said Arafat looked drawn as he greeted Powell in
his office, with Palestinian bodyguards and armed agents of
the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service standing by.
The US Secretary of State was later reported as having
said he had a "useful and constructive" meeting with Arafat.
Powell was expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon later in the day to report on his talks with the
Palestinian leader.
Aiming to halt 18 months of Israeli-Palestinian violence
as a prelude to revived peace talks, Powell had envisaged
meeting Arafat on Saturday (April 13), but put the talks on
hold after a suicide bomber killed six people in Jerusalem on
Friday (April 12).
He went ahead with the meeting after Arafat met U.S.
demands to condemn the attack and despite opposition from
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has sought to isolate
Arafat and has said such talks would be a "tragic mistake".
At the Jenin refugee camp to the north, journalists saw
the devastation left after days of the most ferocious fighting
in the Israeli campaign in the West Bank.
U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said
Powell would work with Arafat for "effective action to bring
an end to terror and violence and an early resumption of a
political process".
Earlier on Saturday, Powell urged restraint by Israeli
forces, which swept into half a dozen more West Bank towns in
defiance of U.S. pressure to end the offensive.
He also expressed concern about the "serious humanitarian
situation" in areas seized by the Israeli army.
Meanwhile, Shimon Peres on Sunday arrived at a memorial
service for Israeli soldiers killed during fighting in Israel.
The service comes ahead of the annual memorial day on
Monday (April 15). Talking to reporters after the ceremony,
Peres spoke about Powell's ongoing visit.
"I don't think it can be judged by one visit, one meeting.
Not what I expect but what I hope, I clearly hope that we
shall arrive at a breakthrough, said Peres.
"There are steps towards peace and we shall continue to
act," he added.
Peres also responded to questions about the Israeli
offensive in the Jenin refugee camp.
"In Jenin apparently many buildings were full of mines.
There was no way to handle them, otherwise then unfortunately
to destroy some of them. Not only the buildings were mined but
also the people themselves. Many of them had explosive belts
on their chest. And lets not forget that this was a bitter
struggle, bitter strike. We have lost 23 soldiers," said
Peres.
Palestinians have accused Israel of carrying out a
"massacre" in Jenin in which hundreds were killed. Israel has
dismissed the charge, saying it tried to avoid civilian
deaths.
One man speaking from Jenin on Saturday said Powell
should visit the area. "We demand that Minister Powell come
and visit the camp and make his decisions once he's seen the
situation. There is no milk for children, no food and no
electricity," he said.
The Israeli army has said it killed 200 Palestinians
during the West Bank incursion, about half of them in the
Jenin camp.
As Israeli forces pressed on with their offensive, the
army said a soldier shot dead an armed Palestinian on Saturday
at a hostel next to Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, where
troops have been locked in a standoff with gunmen for 12 days.
Sharon has ignored a flurry of calls from Washington,
Israel's chief ally, for a withdrawal and has made no
commitment to Powell beyond speeding up military operations.
Israel is normally careful to avoid alienating the United
States, which provides it with $3 billion (USD) in annual aid.
Powell has said the United States is seeking action and
not just words from Arafat in its bid to staunch more than 18
months of Middle East bloodshed in which at least 1,265
Palestinians and 452 Israelis have been killed.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None