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CNN Live Today
Kurdish Groups Meet
Aired October 04, 2002 - 11:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The debate over authorizing U.S. military action against Iraq is expected to pick up today in the Senate. In Washington, the chief U.N. weapons inspector meets with top State Department officials. And in Iraq, the country's vice president proposes an unusual way to end the showdown: a duel. That's right.
CNN Baghdad Bureau Chief Jane Arraf joins us now live from Baghdad. She's got the latest reaction from there -- Jane, hello.
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Hello, Leon. Well, a lot of the reaction today was actually from inside the mosque. It's Friday here, the day off, the day of prayer for a lot of people, and while -- the interesting thing about Iraq is that it has been quite a secular country, in recent times, particularly since the Gulf War, people have gotten quite a bit more religious, and especially now with tension rising, people are turning to prayer.
Now, in the mosque today, at one of the main mosques, the al- Khamisa (ph) Mosque, in Agamia (ph) near the Tigris River, the imam told the congregation, told the worshipers that Arab leaders would have to watch out, that if they went along with the United States, the United States would come into the region and turn them into a nation of tea boys and dust sweepers.
In addition to that warning, though, other warnings to members of the Security Council. But Leon, the biggest thing that has happened in Iraq today, history, in fact, didn't get any mention in Baghdad. It was a meeting of the Kurdish Parliament for the first time in six years. The two competing Kurdish factions in northern Iraq have met, a clear sign to Baghdad that they are siding with the United States, and intend to draw closer together as a counterweight to the Iraqi government -- Leon.
HARRIS: Very interesting, Jane. Is there any reaction coming from Baghdad to this convention there?
ARRAF: We would expect some reaction, but on something of this level, the only reaction that would come would really be from the very highest level, which means the presidential palace. We have the evening news coming up in just a few hours, which is usually the time that the president chooses to get across any message about this.
He has recently, as has his deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, been warning the Kurds that they should, in Tariq Aziz's words, "come to their senses" and realize that their future lies with Baghdad. So, we will eventually get some reaction, but so far, the reaction has been to pretend it just is not happening -- Leon.
HARRIS: Very interesting. Jane Arraf, reporting to us now live in the evening hours there in Baghdad. Take care, Jane, we will talk with you later.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 4, 2002 - 11:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The debate over authorizing U.S. military action against Iraq is expected to pick up today in the Senate. In Washington, the chief U.N. weapons inspector meets with top State Department officials. And in Iraq, the country's vice president proposes an unusual way to end the showdown: a duel. That's right.
CNN Baghdad Bureau Chief Jane Arraf joins us now live from Baghdad. She's got the latest reaction from there -- Jane, hello.
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Hello, Leon. Well, a lot of the reaction today was actually from inside the mosque. It's Friday here, the day off, the day of prayer for a lot of people, and while -- the interesting thing about Iraq is that it has been quite a secular country, in recent times, particularly since the Gulf War, people have gotten quite a bit more religious, and especially now with tension rising, people are turning to prayer.
Now, in the mosque today, at one of the main mosques, the al- Khamisa (ph) Mosque, in Agamia (ph) near the Tigris River, the imam told the congregation, told the worshipers that Arab leaders would have to watch out, that if they went along with the United States, the United States would come into the region and turn them into a nation of tea boys and dust sweepers.
In addition to that warning, though, other warnings to members of the Security Council. But Leon, the biggest thing that has happened in Iraq today, history, in fact, didn't get any mention in Baghdad. It was a meeting of the Kurdish Parliament for the first time in six years. The two competing Kurdish factions in northern Iraq have met, a clear sign to Baghdad that they are siding with the United States, and intend to draw closer together as a counterweight to the Iraqi government -- Leon.
HARRIS: Very interesting, Jane. Is there any reaction coming from Baghdad to this convention there?
ARRAF: We would expect some reaction, but on something of this level, the only reaction that would come would really be from the very highest level, which means the presidential palace. We have the evening news coming up in just a few hours, which is usually the time that the president chooses to get across any message about this.
He has recently, as has his deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, been warning the Kurds that they should, in Tariq Aziz's words, "come to their senses" and realize that their future lies with Baghdad. So, we will eventually get some reaction, but so far, the reaction has been to pretend it just is not happening -- Leon.
HARRIS: Very interesting. Jane Arraf, reporting to us now live in the evening hours there in Baghdad. Take care, Jane, we will talk with you later.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
