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CNN Live Today
Baghdad Remains in Flux
Aired April 16, 2003 - 12:01 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's been a week since the world watched Saddam Hussein topple, symbolically, politically, militarily, and Baghdad remains in flux. Law and order, power and water, food and medicine all remain pressing concerns.
Our Jim Clancy joins us with new developments today on all those fronts.
Hi, Jim.
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Well, it is just after 8:00 in the evening. As you can see by looking behind me, all the lights are still out in Baghdad, electricity not restored. Infrastructure one of the first tests for a new nominated acting governor, Mohammed Mosud Ali Zubadey (ph). He is an outsider. He is from the Iraqi National Congress. Some tribal leaders meeting in Baghdad this day putting his name forward to be the acting mayor, if you will, of Baghdad. He's got a lot to tackle here. The infrastructure is in tatters. He's got to bring that back in line, per happens to prove how he will do.
But as an outsider, his nomination to this post is really a test of how much will Iraqis put up with outsiders coming in, appointed by the United States, with the support, we must say, of some local leaders.
The Red Cross, though, outlining right now, the people of Baghdad, the people of Iraq, may just want to see the job get done, because the challenge is so great.
Here's the Red Cross spokesman Roland Huegenin-Benjamin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROLAND HUEGENIN-BENJAMIN, RED CROSS SPOKESMAN: I think that right now we are at an extremely delicate situation, meaning the fact that there is still no basic infrastructure operating normally. People have been without electricity for a long time. Many people have been without water, although there is some improvement right now. There have been no telephones operating. It's a very basic problem. People can't even get in touch with their relatives anywhere in the country. They really don't know what happened to them during the war.
I believe it's not something very tangible, very visible happens very soon, people will grow extremely impatient.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: The key questions, is the situation improving? The answer is yes. Has the looting ended? The answer is no. Is the situation more secure? Yes.
But there are still pockets of insecurity all across Baghdad, even in areas where the Marines are operating. Now one sign of that improvement was the opening of at least some petrol stations in the capital city of Baghdad, already cues were seen to be lining up. Fuel has been, of course, in very short supply. Some of the trucks that had been half buried by the Iraqis to prevent them from being hit by allied bombing were seen to be siphoned off by some of the Baghdad residents. A very dangerous prospect, the reopening of the petrol stations. One more step forward.
Still, I would say the vast majority of shops in Baghdad, Kyra, remain shuttered and closed. Still lot of fear about the threat of looting. Many Baghdadis, though, really feeling the worst may be over.
Back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right. Jim Clancy, thank you so much.
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 16, 2003 - 12:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's been a week since the world watched Saddam Hussein topple, symbolically, politically, militarily, and Baghdad remains in flux. Law and order, power and water, food and medicine all remain pressing concerns.
Our Jim Clancy joins us with new developments today on all those fronts.
Hi, Jim.
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Well, it is just after 8:00 in the evening. As you can see by looking behind me, all the lights are still out in Baghdad, electricity not restored. Infrastructure one of the first tests for a new nominated acting governor, Mohammed Mosud Ali Zubadey (ph). He is an outsider. He is from the Iraqi National Congress. Some tribal leaders meeting in Baghdad this day putting his name forward to be the acting mayor, if you will, of Baghdad. He's got a lot to tackle here. The infrastructure is in tatters. He's got to bring that back in line, per happens to prove how he will do.
But as an outsider, his nomination to this post is really a test of how much will Iraqis put up with outsiders coming in, appointed by the United States, with the support, we must say, of some local leaders.
The Red Cross, though, outlining right now, the people of Baghdad, the people of Iraq, may just want to see the job get done, because the challenge is so great.
Here's the Red Cross spokesman Roland Huegenin-Benjamin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROLAND HUEGENIN-BENJAMIN, RED CROSS SPOKESMAN: I think that right now we are at an extremely delicate situation, meaning the fact that there is still no basic infrastructure operating normally. People have been without electricity for a long time. Many people have been without water, although there is some improvement right now. There have been no telephones operating. It's a very basic problem. People can't even get in touch with their relatives anywhere in the country. They really don't know what happened to them during the war.
I believe it's not something very tangible, very visible happens very soon, people will grow extremely impatient.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: The key questions, is the situation improving? The answer is yes. Has the looting ended? The answer is no. Is the situation more secure? Yes.
But there are still pockets of insecurity all across Baghdad, even in areas where the Marines are operating. Now one sign of that improvement was the opening of at least some petrol stations in the capital city of Baghdad, already cues were seen to be lining up. Fuel has been, of course, in very short supply. Some of the trucks that had been half buried by the Iraqis to prevent them from being hit by allied bombing were seen to be siphoned off by some of the Baghdad residents. A very dangerous prospect, the reopening of the petrol stations. One more step forward.
Still, I would say the vast majority of shops in Baghdad, Kyra, remain shuttered and closed. Still lot of fear about the threat of looting. Many Baghdadis, though, really feeling the worst may be over.
Back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right. Jim Clancy, thank you so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
