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CNN Live At Daybreak

U.S. Forces Helping Iraqis Restore Services to Capital

Aired April 18, 2003 - 05:34   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: U.S. forces are helping Iraqis restore services to the capital.
CNN's Michael Holmes is standing by in Baghdad with more on that story -- good morning, Michael.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

Yes, that's right, they're trying to get the electricity back on, of course, and the water supply, too, two very, very urgent needs here in Baghdad.

Meanwhile, you know, we go out into the streets every day to do stories, of course. And when we do, one of the things that happens every single time is people come up to you and they're holding photographs and they'll hold them up and ask if we can help them. And, of course, it's very difficult for us to do that. But I thought I'd just give you an example, a snapshot, if you like, of just one case in very, very many.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (voice-over): So many went missing, simply vanished under the rule of Saddam Hussein. No one knows for sure just how many. We've seen in Baghdad this past week heart wrenching searches through ministries and prisons, looking for clues, any sign of what became of loved ones.

This family tells just one story in hundreds, thousands about the perseverance of hope here. Quite extraordinary. Saeb Rahim (ph) is one of the respected Shia elders of the local mosque, a mosque in one of the sprawling slum neighborhoods of Saddam City. Many people disappeared or were arrested here during the tenure of Saddam Hussein. Shia Muslims comprise 60 percent of Iraq's population, but were suppressed with an iron fist by the ruling Sunni Muslims.

It was 1991, they say, when secret police came and took Saeb Rahim's nephews, 16-year-old boys Raheem Ali Matta (ph) and his cousin, Kadeem Hashim (ph), for studying the Shia religion too often, was the charge, and with too much fervor.

Days later, Raheem Ali's father went looking for his son and nephew.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He went out in the morning and he never came back. From 1991 till now, years later, we are still looking for them everywhere. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I told my husband to stop looking for the boys in order to protect him, but he left and never came back to us.

CHANCE: Today, faded photos are all they have of the boys and Saed Ali (ph), who went looking for them. Photos and hope that even after all this time they will get some good news.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We go to the national security headquarters to look and they chase us away. We're asking the Americans to look for them and return these sons to their families and complete our happiness.

CHANCE: The Americans, however, are still busy skirmishing, so individual cases rarely find an ear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are still looking for them in every jail. We heard of underground jails and we don't know where these jails are and we don't know until they are dead or alive.

CHANCE: But life goes on, as it has since that time in 1981, the big change being that now, for the first time, Saeb Rahim can openly make the call to prayer and conduct religious services the Shia way. Under Saddam Hussein, the Shia version of the Muslim faith was forced underground.

Their dream remains in their hearts that their family will be reunited through some miracle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they came back to the door after 25 years, I would die from happiness. My god bring happiness to anyone who would bring us happiness. I'm asking for god's blessing.

CHANCE: But they have a nightmare, too, that with no proof of Saddam Hussein's death just maybe, one day, he will come back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: And there is another aspect of that, too. People are searching through ministries and the like, Carol. But there's also these rumors around Baghdad that there are underground prisons where these people have been kept all this time. And one of our cameraman called in not half an hour ago and said he had come across a building where people were digging into the ground to try to uncover what they thought was a prison containing some of these missing people. It turned out that there was no one there, but it's an indication of how desperate these relatives are -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, and you can certainly understand their desperation. And I know that we're just getting early word of this mass grave site that was found in northern Iraq in Kirkuk, and we're going to try to get Jane Arraf on the phone to tell us more about that.

Michael Holmes reporting live from Baghdad.

Many thanks to 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 18, 2003 - 05:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. forces are helping Iraqis restore services to the capital.
CNN's Michael Holmes is standing by in Baghdad with more on that story -- good morning, Michael.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

Yes, that's right, they're trying to get the electricity back on, of course, and the water supply, too, two very, very urgent needs here in Baghdad.

Meanwhile, you know, we go out into the streets every day to do stories, of course. And when we do, one of the things that happens every single time is people come up to you and they're holding photographs and they'll hold them up and ask if we can help them. And, of course, it's very difficult for us to do that. But I thought I'd just give you an example, a snapshot, if you like, of just one case in very, very many.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (voice-over): So many went missing, simply vanished under the rule of Saddam Hussein. No one knows for sure just how many. We've seen in Baghdad this past week heart wrenching searches through ministries and prisons, looking for clues, any sign of what became of loved ones.

This family tells just one story in hundreds, thousands about the perseverance of hope here. Quite extraordinary. Saeb Rahim (ph) is one of the respected Shia elders of the local mosque, a mosque in one of the sprawling slum neighborhoods of Saddam City. Many people disappeared or were arrested here during the tenure of Saddam Hussein. Shia Muslims comprise 60 percent of Iraq's population, but were suppressed with an iron fist by the ruling Sunni Muslims.

It was 1991, they say, when secret police came and took Saeb Rahim's nephews, 16-year-old boys Raheem Ali Matta (ph) and his cousin, Kadeem Hashim (ph), for studying the Shia religion too often, was the charge, and with too much fervor.

Days later, Raheem Ali's father went looking for his son and nephew.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He went out in the morning and he never came back. From 1991 till now, years later, we are still looking for them everywhere. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I told my husband to stop looking for the boys in order to protect him, but he left and never came back to us.

CHANCE: Today, faded photos are all they have of the boys and Saed Ali (ph), who went looking for them. Photos and hope that even after all this time they will get some good news.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We go to the national security headquarters to look and they chase us away. We're asking the Americans to look for them and return these sons to their families and complete our happiness.

CHANCE: The Americans, however, are still busy skirmishing, so individual cases rarely find an ear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are still looking for them in every jail. We heard of underground jails and we don't know where these jails are and we don't know until they are dead or alive.

CHANCE: But life goes on, as it has since that time in 1981, the big change being that now, for the first time, Saeb Rahim can openly make the call to prayer and conduct religious services the Shia way. Under Saddam Hussein, the Shia version of the Muslim faith was forced underground.

Their dream remains in their hearts that their family will be reunited through some miracle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If they came back to the door after 25 years, I would die from happiness. My god bring happiness to anyone who would bring us happiness. I'm asking for god's blessing.

CHANCE: But they have a nightmare, too, that with no proof of Saddam Hussein's death just maybe, one day, he will come back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: And there is another aspect of that, too. People are searching through ministries and the like, Carol. But there's also these rumors around Baghdad that there are underground prisons where these people have been kept all this time. And one of our cameraman called in not half an hour ago and said he had come across a building where people were digging into the ground to try to uncover what they thought was a prison containing some of these missing people. It turned out that there was no one there, but it's an indication of how desperate these relatives are -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, and you can certainly understand their desperation. And I know that we're just getting early word of this mass grave site that was found in northern Iraq in Kirkuk, and we're going to try to get Jane Arraf on the phone to tell us more about that.

Michael Holmes reporting live from Baghdad.

Many thanks to 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