To the Point

Bush's Plan for Iraq is Caught in the Middle East

When Vice President Dick Cheney left for the Middle East, his focus was on Iraq. But Arab states forced a change of direction, moving the US to take a stronger role in trying to end the violence between Israel and the Palestinians. Today, as he left Jerusalem for Ankara, Turkey, Cheney was talking about a possible meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Does the road to Iraq lead through Israel and the Palestinian Territories? We hear about the latest breakthroughs, prospects for getting negotiations under way, and how they might impact President Bush's plan for dealing with Saddam Hussein, from political scientists, security and defense experts in the Middle East and the US, including Dennis Ross, special Middle East envoy for Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush, Sr. Newsmaker: Al Qaeda Terrorist Arrested in Sudan Abu Anas Liby, on President Bush's most-wanted list of international terrorists for allegedly planning the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Africa, has been arrested in Sudan. Richard Miniter, who broke the story London's Sunday Times, says that government's refusal to comment exemplifies the importance of covert negotiations and the delicacy of cooperating with the US even after the terrorist attacks of September 11 Reporter's Notebook: Culture Shock for North Korean Political Refugees Last week, 25 North Korean defectors stormed the Spanish Embassy in Beijing. A CNN camera crew had been tipped off, and a face-saving deal was arranged for the defectors to leave for South Korea. Barbara Demick, Seoul bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, looks at the shock they face by moving from one of the world's most deprived and repressive countries to a bustling, modern capitalist country.