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CNN Live At Daybreak

Retired General Jay Garner Heading Reconstruction in Iraq

Aired April 21, 2003 - 06:39   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: Let's talk more about the new Iraq. The new man in charge of reconstructing Iraq is now on the job in Baghdad. Retired General Jay Garner is in the Iraqi capital this morning.
CNN's Rula Amin joins us live from Baghdad with more on that.

What tops his agenda -- Rula?

RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, he's here for three main goals. One is to deliver aid to 24 million Iraqi people, who are desperately in need for it, because 60 percent of the Iraqis are dependent on food rations.

Second, he has to oversee the reconstruction and the rebuilding of Iraq. A lot of damage here. This country has been through so many wars and a lot of neglect, so there is a lot to be rebuilt.

And third, he has to establish an interim Iraqi government.

It's three very challenging tasks. When he came here today -- he flew in from Kuwait -- he came with only about 20 assistants. His staff will grow to about 450.

And then, he will also have to use some local Iraqis in order to help him, not only to get the basic power, basic services back to the people, but also to run Iraq. Everything here is almost crippled. People are not going to school, people are not going to their work, no factories are working, so he has to do a lot.

Today, he said his basic priority, his main priority is to restore basic services to the people, mainly power and running water. And this is his priority for now, and the Iraqis are getting very frustrated for the lack of electricity -- Carol.

COSTELLO: You're not kidding. And just to add some more confusion into the mix, this so-called governor of Baghdad that was supposedly elected by community leaders there, well, the United States isn't recognizing him now.

AMIN: No, U.S. officials today, they don't recognized Mohamed al Zubaidi as the governor of Baghdad. But it does show you the chaos that's here. A few days ago, he came to Baghdad. He was in exile. He gathered a few hundred people, and then he announced that he was the governor of Baghdad.

Yesterday, we heard from one of his deputies that he was going to attend an ethics meeting to represent Iraq. And today, the U.S. officials came out very strongly, and they said, we don't recognize this guy as the governor. Nobody gave him this authority.

So that's another problem here is, who gives the authority to anybody to fill a post? Because there is no government. Now, it's going to be Jay Garner, at least for the next few months until there is an Iraqi government in place.

And you have to know that on this day, the same day he arrived in Baghdad, there were more people on the streets voicing their protests for the presence of U.S. troops there. At the Palestine Hotel, more demonstrators asking the troops to leave, and wanting to make sure that it's Iraqis who will rule Iraq -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Tough job for General Garner. Many thanks -- Rula Amin reporting live from Baghdad.

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 21, 2003 - 06:39   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk more about the new Iraq. The new man in charge of reconstructing Iraq is now on the job in Baghdad. Retired General Jay Garner is in the Iraqi capital this morning.
CNN's Rula Amin joins us live from Baghdad with more on that.

What tops his agenda -- Rula?

RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, he's here for three main goals. One is to deliver aid to 24 million Iraqi people, who are desperately in need for it, because 60 percent of the Iraqis are dependent on food rations.

Second, he has to oversee the reconstruction and the rebuilding of Iraq. A lot of damage here. This country has been through so many wars and a lot of neglect, so there is a lot to be rebuilt.

And third, he has to establish an interim Iraqi government.

It's three very challenging tasks. When he came here today -- he flew in from Kuwait -- he came with only about 20 assistants. His staff will grow to about 450.

And then, he will also have to use some local Iraqis in order to help him, not only to get the basic power, basic services back to the people, but also to run Iraq. Everything here is almost crippled. People are not going to school, people are not going to their work, no factories are working, so he has to do a lot.

Today, he said his basic priority, his main priority is to restore basic services to the people, mainly power and running water. And this is his priority for now, and the Iraqis are getting very frustrated for the lack of electricity -- Carol.

COSTELLO: You're not kidding. And just to add some more confusion into the mix, this so-called governor of Baghdad that was supposedly elected by community leaders there, well, the United States isn't recognizing him now.

AMIN: No, U.S. officials today, they don't recognized Mohamed al Zubaidi as the governor of Baghdad. But it does show you the chaos that's here. A few days ago, he came to Baghdad. He was in exile. He gathered a few hundred people, and then he announced that he was the governor of Baghdad.

Yesterday, we heard from one of his deputies that he was going to attend an ethics meeting to represent Iraq. And today, the U.S. officials came out very strongly, and they said, we don't recognize this guy as the governor. Nobody gave him this authority.

So that's another problem here is, who gives the authority to anybody to fill a post? Because there is no government. Now, it's going to be Jay Garner, at least for the next few months until there is an Iraqi government in place.

And you have to know that on this day, the same day he arrived in Baghdad, there were more people on the streets voicing their protests for the presence of U.S. troops there. At the Palestine Hotel, more demonstrators asking the troops to leave, and wanting to make sure that it's Iraqis who will rule Iraq -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Tough job for General Garner. Many thanks -- Rula Amin reporting live from Baghdad.

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