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CNN Sunday Morning
U.S. Soldier Dies in Northern Iraq
Aired May 04, 2003 - 07:40 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.
ROBIN MEADE, CNN ANCHOR: Military officials say that a U.S. soldier has died in northern Iraq after an apparent accident involving his own weapon. Now few details are available at this hour, but Central Command says that it happened yesterday in the northern city of Kirkuk. The cause is being investigated.
Now for the latest out of Baghdad, we're going to turn right now to Rym Brahimi.
What is the mood in the city this morning, Rym? Good morning.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Robin. Well, you know, for those of us who stayed a long time in Baghdad before the war, coming back after the fall of Baghdad, it was a very eerie sight to see all those shop windows closed and streets totally deserted in a city that usually is quite vibrant and is quite -- there used to be a sort of bust to it in a way, a -- very in a commercial way.
Well, now signs of normalcy are slowly coming back. The city is gradually coming back to life. Now we went to the Kupa (ph) market, the old Kupa (ph) market in downtown Baghdad. The (unintelligible) there in vests. You could see shopowners gradually opening shops. And they say that they were encouraged by seeing other vendors on the same street gradually cleaning their stores and timidly opening up, if you will.
So first signs of normalcy in the Iraqi capitol, if you will, are coming out these days. That said, there's still a lot to do and still a few points of tension.
One of those points of tension are the gas stations. Now in a country that's oil rich, as Iraq is, well, seeing lines form at gas stations, that's been the case since about a week before the war began. And now it's also a big problem. They formed huge lines blocking traffic at times. And there's a lot of tension. People want to get their first -- the prices have gone up dramatically. It used to be that you could fill up your car for less than 10 cents. And now that has gone up to more than 10 times that price. So there seems to be still tension. You can see people arguing in those areas. And U.S. troops have had to interfere a couple of times to make sure it runs smoothly.
So there you have it, Robin. Gradually a little bit of signs of normalcy, amid still a lot of chaos and confusion, as the security situation is still very volatile in Baghdad -- Robin? MEADE: All right, Rym Brahimi, live from Baghdad. Thank you so much.
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 May 4, 2003 - 07:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ROBIN MEADE, CNN ANCHOR: Military officials say that a U.S. soldier has died in northern Iraq after an apparent accident involving his own weapon. Now few details are available at this hour, but Central Command says that it happened yesterday in the northern city of Kirkuk. The cause is being investigated.
Now for the latest out of Baghdad, we're going to turn right now to Rym Brahimi.
What is the mood in the city this morning, Rym? Good morning.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Robin. Well, you know, for those of us who stayed a long time in Baghdad before the war, coming back after the fall of Baghdad, it was a very eerie sight to see all those shop windows closed and streets totally deserted in a city that usually is quite vibrant and is quite -- there used to be a sort of bust to it in a way, a -- very in a commercial way.
Well, now signs of normalcy are slowly coming back. The city is gradually coming back to life. Now we went to the Kupa (ph) market, the old Kupa (ph) market in downtown Baghdad. The (unintelligible) there in vests. You could see shopowners gradually opening shops. And they say that they were encouraged by seeing other vendors on the same street gradually cleaning their stores and timidly opening up, if you will.
So first signs of normalcy in the Iraqi capitol, if you will, are coming out these days. That said, there's still a lot to do and still a few points of tension.
One of those points of tension are the gas stations. Now in a country that's oil rich, as Iraq is, well, seeing lines form at gas stations, that's been the case since about a week before the war began. And now it's also a big problem. They formed huge lines blocking traffic at times. And there's a lot of tension. People want to get their first -- the prices have gone up dramatically. It used to be that you could fill up your car for less than 10 cents. And now that has gone up to more than 10 times that price. So there seems to be still tension. You can see people arguing in those areas. And U.S. troops have had to interfere a couple of times to make sure it runs smoothly.
So there you have it, Robin. Gradually a little bit of signs of normalcy, amid still a lot of chaos and confusion, as the security situation is still very volatile in Baghdad -- Robin? MEADE: All right, Rym Brahimi, live from Baghdad. Thank you so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
