On the scene with Christiane Amanpour in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

Amanpour

October 16, 2000
Web posted at: 4:53 p.m. EDT (2053 GMT)

CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour participated in a CNN.com chat session Monday about her coverage of the emergency Middle East summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to resolve two weeks of fighting between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians. The following questions and answers are excerpts from that chat. (Full transcript)

Q: Christiane, how are the personal relations between the two men, (Israeli Prime Minister Ehud) Barak and (Palestinian Authority President Yasser) Arafat, right now? Is it feasible that they will ever shake hands again?

Amanpour: Well, I was told by a senior official who was at the meeting today that they did, in fact, shake hands. However, trust and feelings between them have been badly eroded over the past two weeks. In public, both leaders have been very vitriolic about each other. Each accusing the other of starting the violence first; each accusing the other of not wanting peace. But the bottom line, according to the Israelis, is that they have to work together. These are the two leaders at the moment, and they have to work for peace.

Q: What are the chances of Jordan or Egypt getting drawn into any sort of military or paramilitary involvement? How does the populace of those countries respond to this?

Amanpour: Good question. One of the biggest fears, not only for the United States and Israel, is what happens to the stability of this region. In the past two weeks, we've seen the moderate Arab states like Egypt and Jordan, who have made peace with Israel, rocked by street demonstrations in sympathy with the Palestinians. The level of protest in street demonstrations has shocked and worried these Arab countries. So, it's in all of their interest right now to bring this situation under control.

Q: Where is Syria in all this?

Amanpour: Syria has a new, inexperienced, young president. It has expressed its support for the Palestinian cause, and it was brought into the conflict when the Hezbollah guerrillas, who are backed by Iran and Syria, kidnapped three Israeli soldiers.

At the time, the Israeli prime minister said that he held Syria and Lebanon responsible for those soldiers, and there were real fears among some people that Israel might attack Syrian positions, maybe inside Lebanon. Now, that hasn't happened, but it shows you the potential volatility of this entire region.

Q: How critical is the (proposed) international commission (to investigate the cause of Israeli-Palestinian violence), or is it more a stalling measure?

Amanpour: It's not a stalling measure. The Palestinians feel that if the commission is only made up of Israelis, Palestinians and Americans, that they will not get a fair hearing, because they tend to get a lot of support from the United Nations. So they want U.N. participation. Israel feels that a commission that is full of Palestinian sympathizers would be a kangaroo court aimed at indicting Israel for its actions. So, it is a contentious issue.

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