Interview on Italy's RAI with Giulio Borrelli

MR. BORRELLI: Mr. Powell, Bin Laden is offering a truce to Europe, is trying to divide Europe from America. Do you think that it can succeed?

SECRETARY POWELL: No, I am confident he won't succeed, because we have leaders like Prime Minister Berlusconi who has spoken clearly about this today, and opposition leaders in Italy have also said Italy will not be put at the mercy of a terrorist like Bin Laden. You can't make a deal with somebody like Bin Laden. How can you make a deal with a terrorist? How can you make a deal with somebody who would murder innocent people at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, or innocent people in a field in Pennsylvania or innocent people on a train going into Madrid who were doing nothing but going to school, going to work, minding their own business. You can't deal with somebody like this. There is only one way to deal with him and that is to destroy him.

And so I hope that this message from Bin Laden will send a signal throughout Europe that once again shows the kind of individual we have to fight against and I hope it will strengthen Europe's determination. It will certainly strengthen America's determination and I hope it strengthens cooperation between America and Europe.

MR. BORRELLI: Are you ready to share more power and control with the United Nations, given the current troubled situation in Iraq?

SECRETARY POWELL: Oh, yes, we want the United Nations to play a vital role. As you know, Ambassador Brahimi, just yesterday, made an important statement about the political process moving forward. And it shows that we wanted to receive information and guidance and suggestions from the United Nations. I expect that we will be seeking a new UN resolution with respect to Iraq. We have other UN leaders in Iraq now getting ready for the elections that will be coming at the end of the year, how we set up elections in Iraq.

And so we want to cooperate fully with the UN and the want the UN to play a more expanded role, a more vital role.

MR. BORRELLI: What more can you do, can we do, to rescue the hostages in Iraq?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, hostages are always a difficult issue and let me take this opportunity to express my deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Quattrocchi, who lost his life, and to the Italian people. We are saddened every time an incident like this occurs.

We are doing everything we can through our intelligence agencies in Iraq to locate the hostages and see what can be done to rescue them. But as you know, it is a very difficult situation and we all hope and pray that the remaining Italian hostages will be released safely as other hostages have been recently.

MR. BORRELLI: You have just met Prime Minister Sharon. America now agrees with the new Israeli border. The Palestinians are infuriated. Why did you change -- did you decide to change your mind to be more supportive of the Prime Minister?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, first, there is not yet a new Israeli border. Whatever modifications --

MR. BORRELLI: In parts of the West Bank.

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, no, no. There is no border yet. Whatever modifications may ultimately be made by mutual agreement between the two parties remains an issue for the future. What the President said yesterday was that he recognized the reality of changes that have taken place in the West Bank. The realities are such that he has concluded, as all previous negotiations of this kind have concluded, that modifications, changes, will ultimately have to be made to the armistice line to recognize this new realities. But those modifications have to be mutually agreed upon by the two parties as part of the roadmap process, and I think that's clear.

The reason we wanted to show support for Prime Minister Sharon's plan yesterday is, look what it's providing: Settlements will be evacuated. Israelis will be leaving the settlements in Gaza, the first time settlements are being evacuated since they were built. This is a major move forward. Settlements will also be evacuated in the West Bank -- four, initially. So for the first time, land is being made free of settlements in order to get us going toward this Palestinian state that we have in mind.

What we need to be focusing on now is how to make sure there is proper Palestinian civil authority in these places where the settlements will no longer be. How do we secure them? How do we make sure they don't become places where terrorists take refuge? And how do we help the Palestinians build a thriving economy in order to give people hope in these places?

So the reason we were supportive of Prime Minister Sharon's plan is that, finally, we are getting settlements out of occupied territories. It is not the end of the process; it's the beginning of the process. As both Prime Minister Sharon and President Bush indicated yesterday, this is just the beginning. There is more work to be done. We are not prejudicing the outcome of the final status negotiations. But the President felt it was important to talk to certain realities that are not going to change and these are realities having to do with refugee returns and realities having to do with modifications to the line.

But what those modifications ultimately will be and what ultimately will be decided with respect to return of refugees has to do with a negotiation between the two parties.

MR. BORRELLI: Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary. Thank you.

2004/408