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Historic Vote Taking Place Today in Iraq

Aired May 05, 2003 - 05:10   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: And now to the new Iraq. An historic vote is taking place today, the first one since Saddam Hussein was overthrown.
Our Jane Arraf joins us live from Iraq's northern city of Mosul with details on this election -- Jane, tell us about it.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, they're just counting the ballots now. And this really is a first, really, in a long, long time. This is going to elect a city council, a mayor, it's going to be a microcosm of the very diverse ethnic groups that make up the city of Mosul.

And we have someone with us to talk about it, Maj. Gen. David Petaeus, who's commanding general of the 101st Airborne here in charge of Mosul and someone who's played a large part in bringing this together.

Can you just tell us, General, how unique is this and how important is this?

MAJ. GEN. DAVID PETAEUS, U.S. ARMY: Well, it's important to Mosul. They need an interim government to provide the direction and leadership to bring life back to normal and what we've done is just facilitate the process among all the various ethnic groups, tribes and interests in Mosul, to try to reach consensus on how to select a government for this great city.

ARRAF: Now, you were telling me earlier about Mosul is being multi-ethnic. Does that provide particular challenges therefore?

PETAEUS: Well, it does. Of course it does. And it is a unique city in Iraq in that respect, that it has large minority ethnic groups, a number of different organizations -- groups that are all of importance in Mosul. There are not just Arabs, but there are Kurds, there are Assyrian Christians, there are Uzidis (ph), there are many others, all of whom should have a right to at least a seat at the city council table. And everyone agreed on that and that will be the outcome at the end. There will be representation in proportional measure for all these different groups.

ARRAF: Now, how do you get over that hurdle of this actually having been sort of a base of support, really, for the Baath Party, the fact that there's still a lot of former Baath Party officials? Are they represented? Will they have a role to play?

PETAEUS: There are some individuals who are Baath Party members. As you probably know, there are varying levels of participation in the Baath Party and there are certainly those here today who were Baath Party members of some level. The government that remains and is still helping to run this country has certainly Baath Party officials in it. And then the key is going to be for the interim government to determine whether that level of participation was so enthusiastic that they probably should not be part of the interim government of Mosul.

ARRAF: Thank you so much.

PETAEUS: Thank you.

ARRAF: That was Major General David Petaeus, head of the 101st Airborne, talking about what we're seeing here, which is the first election in a long, long time in Iraq, where people are actually free to elect this city council and this mayor we're going to see sworn in later -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, we'll check it out.

Jane Arraf reporting live from Mosul in Iraq, in northern Iraq, this morning.

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 5, 2003 - 05:10   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And now to the new Iraq. An historic vote is taking place today, the first one since Saddam Hussein was overthrown.
Our Jane Arraf joins us live from Iraq's northern city of Mosul with details on this election -- Jane, tell us about it.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, they're just counting the ballots now. And this really is a first, really, in a long, long time. This is going to elect a city council, a mayor, it's going to be a microcosm of the very diverse ethnic groups that make up the city of Mosul.

And we have someone with us to talk about it, Maj. Gen. David Petaeus, who's commanding general of the 101st Airborne here in charge of Mosul and someone who's played a large part in bringing this together.

Can you just tell us, General, how unique is this and how important is this?

MAJ. GEN. DAVID PETAEUS, U.S. ARMY: Well, it's important to Mosul. They need an interim government to provide the direction and leadership to bring life back to normal and what we've done is just facilitate the process among all the various ethnic groups, tribes and interests in Mosul, to try to reach consensus on how to select a government for this great city.

ARRAF: Now, you were telling me earlier about Mosul is being multi-ethnic. Does that provide particular challenges therefore?

PETAEUS: Well, it does. Of course it does. And it is a unique city in Iraq in that respect, that it has large minority ethnic groups, a number of different organizations -- groups that are all of importance in Mosul. There are not just Arabs, but there are Kurds, there are Assyrian Christians, there are Uzidis (ph), there are many others, all of whom should have a right to at least a seat at the city council table. And everyone agreed on that and that will be the outcome at the end. There will be representation in proportional measure for all these different groups.

ARRAF: Now, how do you get over that hurdle of this actually having been sort of a base of support, really, for the Baath Party, the fact that there's still a lot of former Baath Party officials? Are they represented? Will they have a role to play?

PETAEUS: There are some individuals who are Baath Party members. As you probably know, there are varying levels of participation in the Baath Party and there are certainly those here today who were Baath Party members of some level. The government that remains and is still helping to run this country has certainly Baath Party officials in it. And then the key is going to be for the interim government to determine whether that level of participation was so enthusiastic that they probably should not be part of the interim government of Mosul.

ARRAF: Thank you so much.

PETAEUS: Thank you.

ARRAF: That was Major General David Petaeus, head of the 101st Airborne, talking about what we're seeing here, which is the first election in a long, long time in Iraq, where people are actually free to elect this city council and this mayor we're going to see sworn in later -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, we'll check it out.

Jane Arraf reporting live from Mosul in Iraq, in northern Iraq, this morning.

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