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CNN Live At Daybreak
General Jay Garner Meets With Kurds in Northern Iraq
Aired April 22, 2003 - 07:43 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to move on now to the man in charge with overseeing the reconstruction of Iraq, and how he's shifted his focus today. Retired U.S. Lieutenant General Jay Garner traveled to northern Iraq to meet with members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.
Our Rula Amin is in Baghdad now and following the developments from there.
Hello -- Rula.
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Heidi.
Garner flew to Sulaimaniya, and he landed there amidst very heavy security. However, he got a very warm reception.
First, he was received by the Kurdish leader, Jalal Talabani, who knew it seems -- it was obvious he knew him very well, gave him a hug, and they both seemed very happy to see each other.
Then, he drove into town, and there were people lining up on the streets, carrying banners, welcoming him into their town, and some of them even had flowers for him. He met with some students at the university and another warm reception. What Garner told those people there, he said he believes that the time has come now for the Kurds, and it seems many do believe that.
And this is not the first time Garner was in Kurdistan. He was there in 1991, as the man commanding the U.S. forces who went there in Operation Provide Comfort; that was after Saddam Hussein crushed the Kurdish rebellion there after the Gulf War. But, however, Garner still has to assess what kind of needs the people there have, how to go about it, and what to do about it.
One of the main obstacles is security. The streets of Baghdad and Iraq are still not safe. There is still sporadic violence throughout the day and night. It's much less than before, but still, just less than an hour ago here around the Palestine Hotel we could hear the shooting. You can hear it now. And you can see it was U.S. troops shooting.
We didn't know what they were shooting at, but we could see them across the river, Tigris, from our side. We're on the western side. They are on the eastern side of the Tigris, and they are there at one of the presidential palaces.
What they were shooting at, we don't know. However, that was very close by, and you can see there that some of their laundry was still there. So apparently the troops were a bit relaxed, and they didn't feel that they were in danger -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Rula Amin in Baghdad, thanks for the update.
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 22, 2003 - 07:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to move on now to the man in charge with overseeing the reconstruction of Iraq, and how he's shifted his focus today. Retired U.S. Lieutenant General Jay Garner traveled to northern Iraq to meet with members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.
Our Rula Amin is in Baghdad now and following the developments from there.
Hello -- Rula.
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Heidi.
Garner flew to Sulaimaniya, and he landed there amidst very heavy security. However, he got a very warm reception.
First, he was received by the Kurdish leader, Jalal Talabani, who knew it seems -- it was obvious he knew him very well, gave him a hug, and they both seemed very happy to see each other.
Then, he drove into town, and there were people lining up on the streets, carrying banners, welcoming him into their town, and some of them even had flowers for him. He met with some students at the university and another warm reception. What Garner told those people there, he said he believes that the time has come now for the Kurds, and it seems many do believe that.
And this is not the first time Garner was in Kurdistan. He was there in 1991, as the man commanding the U.S. forces who went there in Operation Provide Comfort; that was after Saddam Hussein crushed the Kurdish rebellion there after the Gulf War. But, however, Garner still has to assess what kind of needs the people there have, how to go about it, and what to do about it.
One of the main obstacles is security. The streets of Baghdad and Iraq are still not safe. There is still sporadic violence throughout the day and night. It's much less than before, but still, just less than an hour ago here around the Palestine Hotel we could hear the shooting. You can hear it now. And you can see it was U.S. troops shooting.
We didn't know what they were shooting at, but we could see them across the river, Tigris, from our side. We're on the western side. They are on the eastern side of the Tigris, and they are there at one of the presidential palaces.
What they were shooting at, we don't know. However, that was very close by, and you can see there that some of their laundry was still there. So apparently the troops were a bit relaxed, and they didn't feel that they were in danger -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Rula Amin in Baghdad, thanks for the update.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
