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American Morning

Garner in Northern Iraq

Aired April 22, 2003 - 09:32   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The man charged with overseeing the reconstruction in Iraq went to northern Iraq today. Retired U.S. Lieutenant General Jay Garner arriving in Baghdad yesterday, touring the country yet again today. And as expected, receiving a warm welcome from the Kurdish people in the northern Part of the country. Rula Amin back in the capital of Baghdad updates us now.
Good afternoon there, Rula.

RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Bill.

Bill, let me give you some news first we got from the U.S. army from the Major General (UNINTELLIGIBLE). He told us that now north most of eastern Baghdad has been secured. The western part of Baghdad, only 20 to 25 had been secured. He said also that the U.S. troops here in the capital are providing security for about 110 different locations. That includes a museum, the oil ministry and other modern facilities like hospitals. He told us as well that tomorrow the airport will be open. He was not very specific to which kind of planes. It will be commercial planes probably for relief and aid agencies trying to bring their personnel and try to bring some supplies to the capital. There's a big need for it.

Now, back to Garner. Jay Garner today had had a very warm welcome in the northern part of the country. When he flew to Salmonilla (ph), he was received there by Jalii Talibani (ph), a Kurdish leader. On the streets of Salmonilla (ph), people lined up the streets, carrying banners, welcoming him in their town. And some of had flowers for him. He spoke to some students at an auditorium at one of the universities, and he told them that he believes now the time is up for the Kurds. And this is very good news for the Kurdish community there. They are worried. For a while they've had the autonomy, and now they're looking for independence. Garner did not talk about politics. He did not say whether they will have that or not, but he was very promising -- Bill.

HEMMER: What explains right now, with the heavy U.S. military presence and the number of engineers working with the U.S. Army, why is it the water and the power still continues to be an issue today?

AMIN: Well, because it's a multiple of problems. In some parts of Baghdad, the rest of Baghdad still without electricity. The major problem is the major power grid. They can't really seem to get it to run yet, because it needs huge power in order to jump start it. They can't afford to give it that power yet. There is no such power in Baghdad. They're trying to get the power from a northern town of Kirkuk. To do that, they have to use the transition lines to bring that from Kirkuk to Baghdad. These transmission lines, some of them are down. They're working hard, trying to locate where is the damage and which lines were broken and trying to fix it. But it takes time.

And at the same time, even when they fix the major power grid, some of the transmission lines from the power grids to the substations have been downed as well. So it's a multiple of problems, and it needs a lot of work. And Garner mentioned that, whenever people came up to him and said, we want things to be done, he said we need a lot of hard work and time -- Bill.

HEMMER: Time indeed, and a lot of hard work, as you mentioned.

Rula, thanks. Rula Amin live in 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 22, 2003 - 09:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The man charged with overseeing the reconstruction in Iraq went to northern Iraq today. Retired U.S. Lieutenant General Jay Garner arriving in Baghdad yesterday, touring the country yet again today. And as expected, receiving a warm welcome from the Kurdish people in the northern Part of the country. Rula Amin back in the capital of Baghdad updates us now.
Good afternoon there, Rula.

RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Bill.

Bill, let me give you some news first we got from the U.S. army from the Major General (UNINTELLIGIBLE). He told us that now north most of eastern Baghdad has been secured. The western part of Baghdad, only 20 to 25 had been secured. He said also that the U.S. troops here in the capital are providing security for about 110 different locations. That includes a museum, the oil ministry and other modern facilities like hospitals. He told us as well that tomorrow the airport will be open. He was not very specific to which kind of planes. It will be commercial planes probably for relief and aid agencies trying to bring their personnel and try to bring some supplies to the capital. There's a big need for it.

Now, back to Garner. Jay Garner today had had a very warm welcome in the northern part of the country. When he flew to Salmonilla (ph), he was received there by Jalii Talibani (ph), a Kurdish leader. On the streets of Salmonilla (ph), people lined up the streets, carrying banners, welcoming him in their town. And some of had flowers for him. He spoke to some students at an auditorium at one of the universities, and he told them that he believes now the time is up for the Kurds. And this is very good news for the Kurdish community there. They are worried. For a while they've had the autonomy, and now they're looking for independence. Garner did not talk about politics. He did not say whether they will have that or not, but he was very promising -- Bill.

HEMMER: What explains right now, with the heavy U.S. military presence and the number of engineers working with the U.S. Army, why is it the water and the power still continues to be an issue today?

AMIN: Well, because it's a multiple of problems. In some parts of Baghdad, the rest of Baghdad still without electricity. The major problem is the major power grid. They can't really seem to get it to run yet, because it needs huge power in order to jump start it. They can't afford to give it that power yet. There is no such power in Baghdad. They're trying to get the power from a northern town of Kirkuk. To do that, they have to use the transition lines to bring that from Kirkuk to Baghdad. These transmission lines, some of them are down. They're working hard, trying to locate where is the damage and which lines were broken and trying to fix it. But it takes time.

And at the same time, even when they fix the major power grid, some of the transmission lines from the power grids to the substations have been downed as well. So it's a multiple of problems, and it needs a lot of work. And Garner mentioned that, whenever people came up to him and said, we want things to be done, he said we need a lot of hard work and time -- Bill.

HEMMER: Time indeed, and a lot of hard work, as you mentioned.

Rula, thanks. Rula Amin live in 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