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Sunday Morning News

Crisis in the Middle East: Ahead of Summit, Hezbollah Claims It's Captured Israeli Soldier

Aired October 15, 2000 - 7:03 a.m. ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The tenuous summit scheduled for tomorrow in Egypt is perhaps made more fragile by reports of the capture of an Israeli colonel.

For more on what is happening today in the Middle East, CNN's Jerrold Kessel joins us now on the phone from Jerusalem -- Jerrold.

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, indeed, as both sides were preparing for that meeting, that emergency summit in Sharm el- Sheikh, some consternation in Israel as Prime Minister Barak convened his cabinet this morning to discuss Israel's position going into that emergency summit. The reports coming out of Lebanon, the claim, the announcement by Hezbollah's Sheik Nasrallah that they had captured, the guerrilla organization, an Israeli officer, a colonel, a member of the enemy's intelligence services what Sheik Nasrallah said.

Now, Israel, as reported by Mr. Barak to his cabinet, a statement coming out, said that Israel has no information of any Israeli officer supposedly in the hands of Hezbollah, but the army was continuing to check, and other groups continuing to check whether, in fact, anybody had been gone, missing in northern Israel or elsewhere and had been taken captive and had been abducted by Hezbollah.

Along the Lebanese border this morning, total quiet, the situation seeming to have been relaxed, only U.N. cars, vehicles traveling on the Lebanese side of the border. Really, a very calm situation. But that could not perhaps be related to the situation of the Hezbollah claim, since Sheik Nasrallah had said later that it was not necessarily that they had taken the colonel captive, the so-called "capture" of the colonel this morning, but that this was simply his announcement this morning at a meeting called to support the Palestinians in their struggle against Israel.

And the struggle taking on a different form now as the two sides head down to Sharm el-Sheikh tomorrow for that summit. Both have a completely different version of what should be the agenda, the Israelis insisting that they must have the Palestinians curb what they call aggressions. The Palestinians say that, the same, that Israel must curb its aggression.

But beyond that, two sides at complete variance on what should be the purpose of this Sharm el-Sheikh meeting. Israel has a string of security of demands of the Palestinians. The Palestinians key aim is to involve the international community to protect them.

But even as he heads out to -- or prepares to head out to Sharm el-Sheikh, Yasser Arafat under some kind pressure from some people in his opposition who are saying to him -- and there were demonstrations down in Gaza yesterday -- saying he should not go to the Sharm el- Sheikh summit because he will simply be cornered by Israeli and United States pressure on him. And those opposition forces calling on Mr. Arafat not to go.

But he has reluctantly, it should be said, agreed to go. And unless there are dramatic developments between now and then, than Sharm el-Sheikh summit will take place tomorrow. The options of what will come out of that Sharm el-Sheikh summit are not very clear, however, and both sides are certainly playing down the expectations that anything serious will emerge from that summit -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Jerrold Kessel in Jerusalem.

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