Andrea Koppel: Powell takes Jordan's king for a spin

Andrea Koppel

CNN State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel has been traveling with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on a Middle East tour the American leader has been using to meet with regional leaders for the first time since he took office last month.

Q: Which Mideast leader -- if any -- did Powell appear to have the most rapport with, and why?

KOPPEL: Well I think I'd have to say he had the most rapport with Jordan's King Abdullah. King Abdullah is a younger man. He's a car enthusiast, which of course, gives him something in common with Secretary of State Powell right off the bat. Secretary Powell is known to spend his free time tinkering with old Volkswagens. Today, after their meeting, Secretary Powell asked if he could drive the king's Mercedes Benz. It was a v-12, a very powerful car and Powell said that he'd never driven anything that fast. So, they switched places. Powell got behind the wheel and the king sat in the passenger's seat. Their security men were in the back seat and they went to the airport to drop Powell off.

Q: Does Powell's military career and specifically his role in the Persian Gulf War hinder or help him in his new role as the top U.S. diplomat?

KOPPEL: Oh, I would have to say it helps him. In the country we're in right now, Kuwait, it certainly helps him. He's a hero here as the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the top U.S. military official, to lead the coalition to get Iraq out of Kuwait.

And within the Arab world in general there is a feeling of goodwill and affection for Secretary Powell. He's seen as someone who went out of his way -- now of course he was working then for George W. Bush's father -- that the Bush administration went out of its way to help an Arab country in need.

And in another way, because of Secretary Powell's long military career, he's able to sit down with someone like Israel's Ariel Sharon, who himself is a retired general. And in many ways they speak the same language. Secretary Powell apparently did hit it off with the Israeli prime minister-elect. Powell indicated that he believed that Sharon might not be as inflexible toward negotiating with the Palestinians as many think he is. And he said that Sharon was really reflective, thoughtful and engaged on the issue and he believed that their similar backgrounds helped their meeting.

Q: Is Powell risking losing the appearance of neutrality by coming out so strongly on the Palestinian side of the economic issue?

KOPPEL: Well, he really didn't come out that strongly. He didn't publicly criticize the Israelis and in fact he didn't publicly ask Israel and Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon to release the tens of millions of dollars worth of tax revenue to the Palestinians. What he did do, however, was play to the crowd. He was in Palestinian territory in the West Bank and he merely empathized with the people in the territories about the hardships that they are going through now after so many months without work and without hope of the siege -- as Powell called it -- ending anytime soon.

Q: What signs have you seen during this trip that may help define what might be the Bush policy regarding Iraq?

KOPPEL: You hear it in diplo-speak, words like "smart sanctions" indicating that they will be less restrictive on the Iraqi people.

What that would mean is the lifting of (U.N. trade) sanctions -- not including the sale of military equipment to Iraq and not including anything that would put hard currency into Saddam Hussein's hands. There are certain items called duel-use items that are banned under the sanctions from being sold to Iraq. These items are deemed to have a military use as well as a civilian use. So, for instance, if Jordan wanted to sell something to Iraq legally, something that technically is a so-called duel-use item -- like a refrigerator -- which you could take apart and use for something else -- those items would have to be removed from the sanctions list. Many say such items are innocuous and should be allowed to be sold to Iraq.

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Kuwait National Assembly
The Gulf War
Kuwait

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