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CNN Live At Daybreak

Two U.S. Tanks Stationed at Presidential Palace on Tigris

Aired April 07, 2003 - 06:32   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A lot has been happening inside the city of Baghdad, U.S. forces moving to the center of the city.
Let's check in with Rym Brahimi from Jordan to tell us more about that.

Rym -- good morning once again.

This presidential palace, I want to start with that. What can you tell us about that? Because coalition forces are now inside that presidential palace inside Baghdad.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a very, very big palace. It's a huge, sprawling complex like many of President Saddam Hussein's palaces inside or outside the Iraqi capital.

That palace in particular along the Tigris River, it's been bombed so many times before. I remember in the first few days of the bombings even, you could see from the view we had at the Palestine Hotel, you could actually see fires burning all day from the bombing of the previous night. So I don't think they would expect to find anyone of high-ranking value, anyone from the leadership of the regime in that palace.

But I think it's got more of a symbolic value. That palace houses the offices of the presidency of the Republic of Iraq. It also has a lot of maybe residences for people who work at the palace. It's really more of a symbolic value for the U.S. troops to have taken over that palace than anything else -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Also, there's a big park there where U.S. coalition tanks are sitting right now. That's a quite sizable park and quite popular with the population. It has a zoo inside, and I understand it's huge. And it has these huge statues of Saddam Hussein that coalition forces also destroyed.

BRAHIMI: Yes, a very, very big park. Baghdad is a very vast city. The streets are very wide, the avenues are also very broad, and it sort of stretches a lot in a circle, if you will.

Now, that park is very, very wide as well, and it's an -- part of it was an amusement park where, until two days before the war began even, you could see families going out there, taking their children at the sort of amusement park in that area. But was also being -- part of it was being reconstructed, and so in that sense it was at that stage basically of reconstruction when the U.S.-led campaign began.

Now, I understand that...

COSTELLO: I'd like to interrupt you for just a second, Rym.

BRAHIMI: ... from people...

COSTELLO: Rym, we're seeing a statue of Saddam Hussein on a horse. That's one of the statues that coalition forces have destroyed now, right?

BRAHIMI: That's right. That's one of the more recent statues that had been placed -- of the president placed in Baghdad, but of course, it's not saying much. There are so many big status of President Saddam Hussein throughout the Iraqi capital, as well as portraits of the president maybe every 10 or 15 meters, so it's something that when you're in Baghdad you sort of get used to. You just notice it when they're not there anymore.

Definitely, again, I think the U.S. definitely seems to be going for the symbolism here and trying to attract the attention of people who may be seeing this, the residents of Baghdad, by doing these symbolic acts more than anything else for the time being.

COSTELLO: I understand.

BRAHIMI: And, of course, Carol, you can see maybe the military value, if you will, of the U.S. and coalition forces having taken over the airport, because this is precisely what it allows them do. It allows them to conduct such raids in the heart of the Iraqi capital and either decide to stay or to go back if they feel like it -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Also, the Information Ministry building was targeted, yet the information minister was able to give an impromptu news conference somewhere on the streets of Baghdad.

BRAHIMI: Absolutely. The Information Ministry was targeted a couple of times at least since the beginning of this war, and the press center, which is where all of the journalists worked out of basically in Baghdad until the war began, this was where also you would go and check the messages, if there were any press conferences you would go to the press center, deal with the Iraqi officials from the Information Ministry. Well, that whole center was actually moved to the Palestine Hotel where all of the journalists were, and that hotel is right across the road from the presidential compound where the U.S. troops have made their incursion.

Interestingly enough, the minister of information has been giving in the past week or so his press conferences in the Palestine Hotel, and I think it was either from the balcony of the hotel or from the street in front of the hotel that he was talking to reporters, and saying -- it did seem quite surreal if you had the view of the smoke behind you just across the river barely, the information minister insisting that the U.S. troops hadn't been able to come into Baghdad because they had been slaughtered and surrounded by Iraqi troops.

Let's just listen to how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED SAEED AL-SAHAL, IRAQI INFORMATION MINISTER (through translator): I will not mention the number of the people killed from their troops or what has been destroyed. The battle is still going on, and I can say and you can actually mark it for me, you can record it for me, they are beginning to commit suicides on the walls of Baghdad. And we will, in fact, encourage them to commit more suicides.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRAHIMI: That, of course, Carol, raises many questions of how the government is still standing, where they're located, how it's functioning, how the system is still being able to put these things out and to function while U.S. troops are in the heart of the Iraqi capital. A lot of questions raised there -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes. And one question I have is: Does the information minister just speak at will? Is he ordered to say certain things by certain people?

BRAHIMI: You know, it's probably a mix of both, Carol. He's obviously part of a system that's been in place for a long time, and probably part of him also believes in that system; otherwise, it probably would be difficult for him to continue under these circumstances. On the other hand, we know that this is a very strict system, and once you're a part of it, it's also made very difficult for whoever would like to leave. So it's probably a mix of both.

The mere fact that he's still talking could also be an indication that he's still receiving orders to just continue as normal, or it could be just somebody trying to do his job until the very end. There's an infinite variety of possibilities, and of course, very reflective of the current confusion and situation that is going on in the country right now.

If you ask the people I spoke to, at any rate, in Baghdad, nobody knows what's going on. They describe a city in a state of war, but from one neighborhood to another they hear artilleries, they hear mortar fire, but they don't know what's going on -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, Rym Brahimi, thanks for your insight. We sure appreciate it.

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 April 7, 2003 - 06:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A lot has been happening inside the city of Baghdad, U.S. forces moving to the center of the city.
Let's check in with Rym Brahimi from Jordan to tell us more about that.

Rym -- good morning once again.

This presidential palace, I want to start with that. What can you tell us about that? Because coalition forces are now inside that presidential palace inside Baghdad.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a very, very big palace. It's a huge, sprawling complex like many of President Saddam Hussein's palaces inside or outside the Iraqi capital.

That palace in particular along the Tigris River, it's been bombed so many times before. I remember in the first few days of the bombings even, you could see from the view we had at the Palestine Hotel, you could actually see fires burning all day from the bombing of the previous night. So I don't think they would expect to find anyone of high-ranking value, anyone from the leadership of the regime in that palace.

But I think it's got more of a symbolic value. That palace houses the offices of the presidency of the Republic of Iraq. It also has a lot of maybe residences for people who work at the palace. It's really more of a symbolic value for the U.S. troops to have taken over that palace than anything else -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Also, there's a big park there where U.S. coalition tanks are sitting right now. That's a quite sizable park and quite popular with the population. It has a zoo inside, and I understand it's huge. And it has these huge statues of Saddam Hussein that coalition forces also destroyed.

BRAHIMI: Yes, a very, very big park. Baghdad is a very vast city. The streets are very wide, the avenues are also very broad, and it sort of stretches a lot in a circle, if you will.

Now, that park is very, very wide as well, and it's an -- part of it was an amusement park where, until two days before the war began even, you could see families going out there, taking their children at the sort of amusement park in that area. But was also being -- part of it was being reconstructed, and so in that sense it was at that stage basically of reconstruction when the U.S.-led campaign began.

Now, I understand that...

COSTELLO: I'd like to interrupt you for just a second, Rym.

BRAHIMI: ... from people...

COSTELLO: Rym, we're seeing a statue of Saddam Hussein on a horse. That's one of the statues that coalition forces have destroyed now, right?

BRAHIMI: That's right. That's one of the more recent statues that had been placed -- of the president placed in Baghdad, but of course, it's not saying much. There are so many big status of President Saddam Hussein throughout the Iraqi capital, as well as portraits of the president maybe every 10 or 15 meters, so it's something that when you're in Baghdad you sort of get used to. You just notice it when they're not there anymore.

Definitely, again, I think the U.S. definitely seems to be going for the symbolism here and trying to attract the attention of people who may be seeing this, the residents of Baghdad, by doing these symbolic acts more than anything else for the time being.

COSTELLO: I understand.

BRAHIMI: And, of course, Carol, you can see maybe the military value, if you will, of the U.S. and coalition forces having taken over the airport, because this is precisely what it allows them do. It allows them to conduct such raids in the heart of the Iraqi capital and either decide to stay or to go back if they feel like it -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Also, the Information Ministry building was targeted, yet the information minister was able to give an impromptu news conference somewhere on the streets of Baghdad.

BRAHIMI: Absolutely. The Information Ministry was targeted a couple of times at least since the beginning of this war, and the press center, which is where all of the journalists worked out of basically in Baghdad until the war began, this was where also you would go and check the messages, if there were any press conferences you would go to the press center, deal with the Iraqi officials from the Information Ministry. Well, that whole center was actually moved to the Palestine Hotel where all of the journalists were, and that hotel is right across the road from the presidential compound where the U.S. troops have made their incursion.

Interestingly enough, the minister of information has been giving in the past week or so his press conferences in the Palestine Hotel, and I think it was either from the balcony of the hotel or from the street in front of the hotel that he was talking to reporters, and saying -- it did seem quite surreal if you had the view of the smoke behind you just across the river barely, the information minister insisting that the U.S. troops hadn't been able to come into Baghdad because they had been slaughtered and surrounded by Iraqi troops.

Let's just listen to how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED SAEED AL-SAHAL, IRAQI INFORMATION MINISTER (through translator): I will not mention the number of the people killed from their troops or what has been destroyed. The battle is still going on, and I can say and you can actually mark it for me, you can record it for me, they are beginning to commit suicides on the walls of Baghdad. And we will, in fact, encourage them to commit more suicides.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRAHIMI: That, of course, Carol, raises many questions of how the government is still standing, where they're located, how it's functioning, how the system is still being able to put these things out and to function while U.S. troops are in the heart of the Iraqi capital. A lot of questions raised there -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes. And one question I have is: Does the information minister just speak at will? Is he ordered to say certain things by certain people?

BRAHIMI: You know, it's probably a mix of both, Carol. He's obviously part of a system that's been in place for a long time, and probably part of him also believes in that system; otherwise, it probably would be difficult for him to continue under these circumstances. On the other hand, we know that this is a very strict system, and once you're a part of it, it's also made very difficult for whoever would like to leave. So it's probably a mix of both.

The mere fact that he's still talking could also be an indication that he's still receiving orders to just continue as normal, or it could be just somebody trying to do his job until the very end. There's an infinite variety of possibilities, and of course, very reflective of the current confusion and situation that is going on in the country right now.

If you ask the people I spoke to, at any rate, in Baghdad, nobody knows what's going on. They describe a city in a state of war, but from one neighborhood to another they hear artilleries, they hear mortar fire, but they don't know what's going on -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, Rym Brahimi, thanks for your insight. We sure appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.