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CNN Live Today

Mosul Still Uneasy

Aired April 17, 2003 - 11:02   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. officials say they have scratched another name off their list of most wanted members of Saddam Hussein's regime. Overnight in Baghdad, they captured another of Saddam's siblings, who is said to have extensive knowledge about the regime. Our Jim Clancy joins us with the latest. He is in Baghdad today -- Jim, hello.
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn. Well, it is a good find for U.S. officials, at least they hope so. Barzan al-Tikriti, of course, a former head of Iraqi intelligence. More importantly, he was one of the people that cycled through a lot of different positions as part of that inner circle of President Saddam Hussein. Clearly, the U.S. military in nabbing him here in Baghdad is hopeful that he might be able to provide information about the whereabouts of other members of that inner circle, including, if he is still alive, President Saddam Hussein.

Also, they are hoping he might be able to give them some information about the weapons of mass destruction that they believe are still hidden here.

Meantime, more information coming to light, to television screens as well, about what may have been the last days of the Saddam Hussein regime. A safe house in the northern suburbs of Baghdad. It was in a modest residential area. Nothing remarkable about the interior of the house, except it appears, from looking at the videotape that was shown on Al-Jazeera, the Arab news channel, it appears that this may have been the place where President Saddam Hussein then was tape recording messages to his troops and to his people as power was slipping from his hands in the final days of his regime -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Jim, any more information how they came upon Saddam's half-brother?

CLANCY: No. No information about the specifics of that case. No information, either, Daryn, about just how many people they can spare, how many they have got working on getting that list of 50 or more members of the inner circle, so to speak, taking them into custody. Thus far they have a few of them, but they want a lot, lot more.

KAGAN: Jim Clancy in Baghdad. Jim, thank you very much.

Let's move on now to northern Iraq. That is where the situation in Mosul is described as uncertain and uneasy. U.S. forces are trying to ease anti-American sentiment after two days of violent clashes. Our Ben Wedeman is joining us live now. He is Erbil with the latest on the tension in northern Iraq -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Daryn. Certainly the situation in Mosul is uncertain, and one of the clues we are getting that might be behind some of that uncertainty is that, according to a senior spokesman before the Kurdish Democratic Party, the one that rules in this area, senior members of the Iraqi government -- ex- government, so to speak, have been sighted in the city of Mosul. Now Mosul really is the exception, at this point, to the situation throughout Iraq, where there seems to be a gradual normalization. In Mosul, still very unstable. Now at this point, our understanding is that U.S. forces in the western or predominantly Sunni Arab part of the city are holed up in the governor's office. There are about 200 to 250 U.S. Marines and Special Forces in that building, and that is the only spot controlled by the Americans in the western part of the city. now -- and that is also the flash point over the last three days in Mosul, where we've had anti-American protests, where there has been this bank robbery that the Americans apparently opened fire upon.

Now one of the reasons why, also, that there is this hostility toward the Americans is that Mosul is traditionally an Arab nationalist stronghold, one that traditionally has also been loyal to the Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein. Another reason for some of the unhappiness towards the Americans is that even though they entered the city about six days ago, still electricity and water is not functioning there.

So this city, with all this unhappiness, is clearly going to be something of a problem for the Americans in the weeks and months to come.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): An American helicopter flies low over central Mosul. The Americans control the skies over this predominantly Sunni Arab city. The ground is a whole different matter. U.S. troops cling to an uneasy toehold in the governor's office in the center of the city, and that's it.

Mosul, long a power base for Saddam's regime, is hardly celebrating what the coalition is calling its liberation.

"We don't want the Americans here," they tell us. Since the week began, at least 10 Iraqis have been killed and many more wounded in clashes involving U.S. troops and local protesters. Until Tuesday afternoon, Kurdish forces, allies of the Americans, patrolled city center, their presence an irritant to the Arab population from the beginning.

Now, Kurdish forces have pulled back to Kurdish parts of the city. With tensions rising, Kurdish officials are trying to build bridges with Arab tribal leaders to avoid a showdown. The talk seems friendly enough, but the outcome is, as yet, uncertain.

Central Mosul is now a tense no man's land, a vacuum opened for exploitation by elements still loyal to Saddam Hussein, local militias, and common criminals. On the outskirts of town, the Americans are trying to listen to local grievances. Arab villagers complain of marauding Kurdish gunmen. It's a complicated mix in which the Americans are just beginning to get their bearings.

CAPT. JAMES JARVIS, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Obviously, we're in a period of instability somewhat. Any time you go from having a controlling regime to establishing a new government, you have a period of instability.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN: And, of course, more American forces are on the way. There are already U.S. Marines and members of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, all of whom, it is hoped, will try to impose some sort of order on that city -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Ben Wedeman in northern Iraq. Thank you, Ben.

To date, U.S. troops haven't found any of the vast collection of chemical and biological weapons that the U.S. says Saddam Hussein hid from U.N. inspectors. Has that elicited an "I told you so" from the inspectors' boss?

Our senior United Nations correspondent, Richard Roth, is in New York this morning -- Richard, good morning.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. No, you are not going to get anything like that from Swedish diplomat and lead arms inspector Hans Blix. Though he's retiring from his post June 30, he is going to remain here, and he's just really calling on the U.S. to say -- let his inspectors go back into Iraq, because that could only enhance the credibility of any discovery, if one is, indeed, made by the waves of teams the United States on its own is sending in, from military to scientists.

He did say, with a bit of a twinkle in his eye, let's see if Washington and London find anything -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Richard, another question. Today, U.S. making accusations about Syria having weapons of mass destruction. Any word out of the U.N., or inspectors knowing anything about that?

ROTH: Hans Blix is well aware of those reports. And in an interview with CNN Turk (ph) yesterday, he reflected on just what a Syria connection could mean if he was aware of anything regarding Damascus.

KAGAN: Richard Roth at the United Nations, thank you.

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 17, 2003 - 11:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. officials say they have scratched another name off their list of most wanted members of Saddam Hussein's regime. Overnight in Baghdad, they captured another of Saddam's siblings, who is said to have extensive knowledge about the regime. Our Jim Clancy joins us with the latest. He is in Baghdad today -- Jim, hello.
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn. Well, it is a good find for U.S. officials, at least they hope so. Barzan al-Tikriti, of course, a former head of Iraqi intelligence. More importantly, he was one of the people that cycled through a lot of different positions as part of that inner circle of President Saddam Hussein. Clearly, the U.S. military in nabbing him here in Baghdad is hopeful that he might be able to provide information about the whereabouts of other members of that inner circle, including, if he is still alive, President Saddam Hussein.

Also, they are hoping he might be able to give them some information about the weapons of mass destruction that they believe are still hidden here.

Meantime, more information coming to light, to television screens as well, about what may have been the last days of the Saddam Hussein regime. A safe house in the northern suburbs of Baghdad. It was in a modest residential area. Nothing remarkable about the interior of the house, except it appears, from looking at the videotape that was shown on Al-Jazeera, the Arab news channel, it appears that this may have been the place where President Saddam Hussein then was tape recording messages to his troops and to his people as power was slipping from his hands in the final days of his regime -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Jim, any more information how they came upon Saddam's half-brother?

CLANCY: No. No information about the specifics of that case. No information, either, Daryn, about just how many people they can spare, how many they have got working on getting that list of 50 or more members of the inner circle, so to speak, taking them into custody. Thus far they have a few of them, but they want a lot, lot more.

KAGAN: Jim Clancy in Baghdad. Jim, thank you very much.

Let's move on now to northern Iraq. That is where the situation in Mosul is described as uncertain and uneasy. U.S. forces are trying to ease anti-American sentiment after two days of violent clashes. Our Ben Wedeman is joining us live now. He is Erbil with the latest on the tension in northern Iraq -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Daryn. Certainly the situation in Mosul is uncertain, and one of the clues we are getting that might be behind some of that uncertainty is that, according to a senior spokesman before the Kurdish Democratic Party, the one that rules in this area, senior members of the Iraqi government -- ex- government, so to speak, have been sighted in the city of Mosul. Now Mosul really is the exception, at this point, to the situation throughout Iraq, where there seems to be a gradual normalization. In Mosul, still very unstable. Now at this point, our understanding is that U.S. forces in the western or predominantly Sunni Arab part of the city are holed up in the governor's office. There are about 200 to 250 U.S. Marines and Special Forces in that building, and that is the only spot controlled by the Americans in the western part of the city. now -- and that is also the flash point over the last three days in Mosul, where we've had anti-American protests, where there has been this bank robbery that the Americans apparently opened fire upon.

Now one of the reasons why, also, that there is this hostility toward the Americans is that Mosul is traditionally an Arab nationalist stronghold, one that traditionally has also been loyal to the Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein. Another reason for some of the unhappiness towards the Americans is that even though they entered the city about six days ago, still electricity and water is not functioning there.

So this city, with all this unhappiness, is clearly going to be something of a problem for the Americans in the weeks and months to come.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): An American helicopter flies low over central Mosul. The Americans control the skies over this predominantly Sunni Arab city. The ground is a whole different matter. U.S. troops cling to an uneasy toehold in the governor's office in the center of the city, and that's it.

Mosul, long a power base for Saddam's regime, is hardly celebrating what the coalition is calling its liberation.

"We don't want the Americans here," they tell us. Since the week began, at least 10 Iraqis have been killed and many more wounded in clashes involving U.S. troops and local protesters. Until Tuesday afternoon, Kurdish forces, allies of the Americans, patrolled city center, their presence an irritant to the Arab population from the beginning.

Now, Kurdish forces have pulled back to Kurdish parts of the city. With tensions rising, Kurdish officials are trying to build bridges with Arab tribal leaders to avoid a showdown. The talk seems friendly enough, but the outcome is, as yet, uncertain.

Central Mosul is now a tense no man's land, a vacuum opened for exploitation by elements still loyal to Saddam Hussein, local militias, and common criminals. On the outskirts of town, the Americans are trying to listen to local grievances. Arab villagers complain of marauding Kurdish gunmen. It's a complicated mix in which the Americans are just beginning to get their bearings.

CAPT. JAMES JARVIS, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Obviously, we're in a period of instability somewhat. Any time you go from having a controlling regime to establishing a new government, you have a period of instability.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN: And, of course, more American forces are on the way. There are already U.S. Marines and members of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, all of whom, it is hoped, will try to impose some sort of order on that city -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Ben Wedeman in northern Iraq. Thank you, Ben.

To date, U.S. troops haven't found any of the vast collection of chemical and biological weapons that the U.S. says Saddam Hussein hid from U.N. inspectors. Has that elicited an "I told you so" from the inspectors' boss?

Our senior United Nations correspondent, Richard Roth, is in New York this morning -- Richard, good morning.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. No, you are not going to get anything like that from Swedish diplomat and lead arms inspector Hans Blix. Though he's retiring from his post June 30, he is going to remain here, and he's just really calling on the U.S. to say -- let his inspectors go back into Iraq, because that could only enhance the credibility of any discovery, if one is, indeed, made by the waves of teams the United States on its own is sending in, from military to scientists.

He did say, with a bit of a twinkle in his eye, let's see if Washington and London find anything -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Richard, another question. Today, U.S. making accusations about Syria having weapons of mass destruction. Any word out of the U.N., or inspectors knowing anything about that?

ROTH: Hans Blix is well aware of those reports. And in an interview with CNN Turk (ph) yesterday, he reflected on just what a Syria connection could mean if he was aware of anything regarding Damascus.

KAGAN: Richard Roth at the United Nations, thank you.

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