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CNN Live Today

Rumors Continue to Swirl Over Hussein's Fate

Aired April 18, 2003 - 10:09   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: Thanassis Cambanis is with the "Boston Globe." He has been in some of these neighborhoods where a lot of this has been going on, where Saddam was rumored to have shown up, where the tape was taken. We are going to bring him now. He is still in Baghdad.
Thanassis, hello.

THANASSIS CAMBANIS, "BOSTON GLOBE": Hi, how are you doing?

KAGAN: What can you tell us about what you have heard on the streets and in the neighborhoods of Baghdad, where you have been doing some of your reporting?

CAMBANIS: Well, particularly in the neighborhood of Mansour, which is an upper class neighborhood sort of northwest of the city center, there was a lot of talk of Saddam Hussein having been there throughout the war.

Now, this is a neighborhood, you might remember, where there was a bombing strike on a house, and Central Command had suggested that they thought they might have gotten Saddam or one of his sons.

Well, right around that crater was a home I was shown that was purported to be a safe house and a restaurant that the leadership frequented. Many of the people I spoke to -- this was last Saturday -- said that they had heard -- they had either heard of Saddam and his sons being there, and some of them actually claimed to have seen him.

KAGAN: When they say they had seen him, what kind of stories do they tell you, what kind of security did he have around him, what was he wearing, what was he doing in that neighborhood?

CAMBANIS: Well, it is always difficult to separate myth from reality when you hear these stories, but what people will say is an entourage of a few cars would pull up to these -- this safe house, which was on a narrow, residential street behind a fast food restaurant. There were lots of army vehicles would have come into the area beforehand, to make security. The entourage would come in, leave the people there in the house, and once the people left, then the military would go to. And that was how they said they always knew someone from -- Saddam or his family was there, by the sudden appearance of all these army trucks.

KAGAN: Well, of course, there are also stories left over from the first gulf war that Saddam was driving around Baghdad during that time with just a driver and a little Volkswagen car. CAMBANIS: Well, the people there -- it was a mixture of admiration for him, and skepticism for whether it was really him. There was some acknowledgment that he might well have been sending a double around to build war moral. But at the same time, these people I spoke to, many of whom claimed not to support the regime, were, at the same time, very thrilled that their leader had had the guts to make an appearance in their neighborhood, even while America was bombing Baghdad.

KAGAN: Before I let you go, let me just ask you this just too, just about the general mood that you are finding on the streets of Baghdad?

CAMBANIS: Well, people right now seem to be getting impatient, as you heard before from your reporters. There is still no power, there is still no phones, there is lots of military presence on the street, yet looting continues, government buildings continue to get burned every day, even today. And people are starting to say if the Americans did come here to liberate us, why haven't they started to fix all the things that got broken during this war.

KAGAN: Sounds like you are finding that same sense of frustration that we've seen, as you mentioned, in so many reports. Thanassis Cambanis from the "Boston Globe," thank you for that. Appreciate your input.

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 - 10:09   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanassis Cambanis is with the "Boston Globe." He has been in some of these neighborhoods where a lot of this has been going on, where Saddam was rumored to have shown up, where the tape was taken. We are going to bring him now. He is still in Baghdad.
Thanassis, hello.

THANASSIS CAMBANIS, "BOSTON GLOBE": Hi, how are you doing?

KAGAN: What can you tell us about what you have heard on the streets and in the neighborhoods of Baghdad, where you have been doing some of your reporting?

CAMBANIS: Well, particularly in the neighborhood of Mansour, which is an upper class neighborhood sort of northwest of the city center, there was a lot of talk of Saddam Hussein having been there throughout the war.

Now, this is a neighborhood, you might remember, where there was a bombing strike on a house, and Central Command had suggested that they thought they might have gotten Saddam or one of his sons.

Well, right around that crater was a home I was shown that was purported to be a safe house and a restaurant that the leadership frequented. Many of the people I spoke to -- this was last Saturday -- said that they had heard -- they had either heard of Saddam and his sons being there, and some of them actually claimed to have seen him.

KAGAN: When they say they had seen him, what kind of stories do they tell you, what kind of security did he have around him, what was he wearing, what was he doing in that neighborhood?

CAMBANIS: Well, it is always difficult to separate myth from reality when you hear these stories, but what people will say is an entourage of a few cars would pull up to these -- this safe house, which was on a narrow, residential street behind a fast food restaurant. There were lots of army vehicles would have come into the area beforehand, to make security. The entourage would come in, leave the people there in the house, and once the people left, then the military would go to. And that was how they said they always knew someone from -- Saddam or his family was there, by the sudden appearance of all these army trucks.

KAGAN: Well, of course, there are also stories left over from the first gulf war that Saddam was driving around Baghdad during that time with just a driver and a little Volkswagen car. CAMBANIS: Well, the people there -- it was a mixture of admiration for him, and skepticism for whether it was really him. There was some acknowledgment that he might well have been sending a double around to build war moral. But at the same time, these people I spoke to, many of whom claimed not to support the regime, were, at the same time, very thrilled that their leader had had the guts to make an appearance in their neighborhood, even while America was bombing Baghdad.

KAGAN: Before I let you go, let me just ask you this just too, just about the general mood that you are finding on the streets of Baghdad?

CAMBANIS: Well, people right now seem to be getting impatient, as you heard before from your reporters. There is still no power, there is still no phones, there is lots of military presence on the street, yet looting continues, government buildings continue to get burned every day, even today. And people are starting to say if the Americans did come here to liberate us, why haven't they started to fix all the things that got broken during this war.

KAGAN: Sounds like you are finding that same sense of frustration that we've seen, as you mentioned, in so many reports. Thanassis Cambanis from the "Boston Globe," thank you for that. Appreciate your input.

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